Swimming world champion Max Giuliani has capped off a stunning season by being named the 2025 Tasmanian Athlete of the Year.
The award follows the Hobart 22-year-old claiming gold, silver and bronze medals at world championships.
Giuliani’s win continues an impressive run for freestyle swimmers after Dolphins teammate Ariarne Titmus had won four of the previous five Tasmanian Athlete of the Year awards.
A year after winning a relay bronze medal at his maiden Olympic Games in Paris, Giuliani added world championship gold and bronze in Singapore.
Australia’s team of Giuliani, Flynn Southam, Kai Taylor and Kyle Chalmers clocked an Oceania record time of 3:05.76 to win the men’s 4x100m freestyle relay.
Giuliani followed this up by anchoring the men’s 4x200m freestyle relay to a bronze medal.
This followed his achievements at the Short-Course World Championships in Budapest where he secured silver medals in the men’s 200m freestyle - in another Oceanian record of 1:40.36 - and the 4x200m freestyle relay.
Born in Victoria, Giuliani grew up in Hobart, attending St Virgil’s and Guilford Young colleges and swimming with Hobart Aquatic Club.
He moved to Queensland in 2022, lives on the Gold Coast and has represented Miami Swimming Club and TSS Aquatic.
Presented with the award at a cocktail function at Princess Wharf in Hobart on Thursday, December 4, Giuliani was among seven finalists. Also shortlisted were Dan Booker (MTB enduro), Kate Eckhardt (canoe/kayak), Nicole Frain (gravel enduro), Alex Hunt (multisport), Fiona Plummer (eightball) and Felicity Wilson-Haffenden (road cycling).
Booker had a superb season in the UCI Enduro World Cup, highlighted by victories in Italy and France.
Eckhardt capped off a strong ICF Canoe Slalom World Cup series by becoming the first Australian woman to secure a medal in the K1 at world championships in Sydney.
Former national road race champion Frain cemented a successful transition to gravel enduro cycling by finishing the UCI Gravel World Series ranked no.1.
After nearly 20 years in multisport, Hunt won the world championships which involved 243 kilometres of trail running, kayaking and cycling across New Zealand’s South Island.
Plummer’s extensive achievements in eightball reached a climax when she helped the Australian team clinch the world championship in Ireland.
Although still an under-23 rider, Wilson-Haffenden’s impressive individual time trial performances saw her help Australia defend its world title in the elite mixed relay team time trial in Rwanda.
Running since 1995, the Tasmanian Athlete of the Year award is based on performance at international level between November 1, 2024, and October 31, 2025, plus contribution to the athlete’s sport and the Tasmanian sporting community.