Edith van Dijk voted best swimmer 2008 by American pundits

02 January 2009 - In the American voting for best open water swimmer, Edith van Dijk was chosen as swimmer of the year 2008.

On the website www.10kswimmer.com, anyone could cast a vote for one of the eleven nominated swimmers. Van Dijk collected 42 percent of the votes, remaining ahead of Marcia Cleveland, who ended on 36 percent.
 
Van Dijk’s victory was an excellent conclusion to her career. In September 2008, the swimmer announced her definitive retirement after a long and impressive swimming career.

Edith van Dijk, who had in fact previously ended her swimming career in 2005, decided she very much wanted to participate in the 2008 Olympic Games. She returned to the sport and succeeded in qualifying for Beijing, where at the age of 35 she made her Olympic debut. Her return to the world top after an absence of two years was greeted with considerable respect.

Dutch sportsman of the year and Olympic champion Maarten van der Weijden was not voted best male swimmer of the year by the Americans. He ended in second place with 25 percent. Van der Weijden was beaten by the American Randy Nutt.