Here all Para swimming Laureus Awards winners

Since 2000, the Laureus World Sports Awards have celebrated the greatest achievements in sports, honoring Para athletes and athletes without disabilities responsible for the most inspirational sporting triumphs of each year.

The 2025 Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability was the fifth to be awarded to a Para swimming athlete, as China’s Yuyan Jiang was crowned at the Gala in the Spanish capital Madrid on Monday (21 April) and joined a select group alongside two legends of her sport.

Brazil’s Daniel Dias is the most decorated Laureus winner in this category with three awards while South Africa’s Natalie du Toit wrote history as the first leg amputee swimmer to compete in both the Paralympic and the Olympic Games.

Here is when Para swimming triumphed at the Laureus Awards:

2009: Daniel Dias

Daniel Dias announced himself as a global star at the age of 20 at the Beijing 2008 Beijing Paralympics where he won nine medals (four gold, four silver, and one bronze) – the most by any athlete at those Games.

His dominance across multiple freestyle, backstroke, and medley events showcased his versatility and technical brilliance. Dias’ success was even more remarkable considering he had only taken up competitive swimming in 2004. It was his second nomination to the Laureus, following the first in 2008.

2010: Natalie du Toit

A trailblazer for women in Para sports, South Africa’s Natalie du Toit made history by becoming the first female Para swimmer to win the Laureus Award in 2010. A former able-bodied swimmer who lost her leg after she was hit by a car in 2001, du Toit returned to pool less than a year later to compete at the 2002 Commonwealth Games.

At the 2008 Beijing Olympics she competed in the 10km open water swim and returned to action at the Paralympic Games to secure five gold medals. In 2009, she continued to dominate Para swimming events while still competing in able-bodied open water World Cups and the World Championships.

Imagen Brazilian swimmer Daniel Dias won the 2016 Laureus World Sports Award for Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability.

2013: Daniel Dias

By 2012, Daniel Dias had further cemented his status in Para swimming. At the London Paralympics, he delivered another breathtaking performance, securing six individual gold medals, all in world record times.

His ability to consistently perform at the highest level made him a standout nominee once again, after also being shortlisted for the 2011 and 2012 Awards. He became only the second Para athlete (after wheelchair tennis player Esther Vergeer) to win the Laureus more than once, this time in a ceremony in front of the home fans in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

2016: Daniel Dias

Three years later, Daniel Dias made history again as the first athlete to win the Laureus Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability Award three times. His performance at the Glasgow 2015 World Para Swimming Championships was a key factor.

The then 27-year-old won seven golds and one silver medal, six of them in individual events in Scotland. Then, just three weeks later, he bagged eight gold medals out of eight events at the Parapan American Games in Toronto, Canada.

2025: Yuyan Jiang

Known as the Flying Fish, the Chinese swimmer won seven gold medals from seven events at the Paris 2024 Paralympics, leaving France as the most decorated athlete of the Games at only 19. She broke two individual world records and helped her teammates set another one en route to gold in the 4x50m mixed freestyle relay 20pts.

She also triumphed in the women’s 50m freestyle S6, 100m freestyle S7, 400m freestyle S6, 100m backstroke S6, 50m butterfly S6, and the mixed 4x50m medley relay 20 points at the Paris La Defense Arena. Jiang was China’s flagbearer at the Closing Ceremony.

For the complete list of Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability award winners click here.

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