The Olympic  3 metre synchronised springboard champion, winner of two gold medals at the 2018 European Championships in Glasgow and three at the  Commonwealth Games in the Gold Coast, was named as the winner for a second time after voting by swimming’s National Federations and various LEN Committee members.

He also won the award in 2016.

"It’s a huge honour to be crowned Male European Diver of the Year for the second time and this award really does mean a lot," the 24-year-old Laugher said.

"Twenty eighteen was amazing, but I’m not resting on my laurels as 2019 is a big year, with the World Championships in South Korea and that all important qualification for Tokyo 2020."

The Female European Diver of the Year prize went to Celine van Duijn from The Netherlands after she won 10m platform gold at the European Championships.

The swimming award winners were named as Kliment Kolesnikov from Russia and Sweden’s Sarah Sjöström.

Kolesnikov gained the men’s prize after setting a new world record to win the European 50m backstroke title in Glasgow, one of three gold medals he picked up at the Championships, while Sjostrom won four golds including in the 50m freestyle, where she set a Championship record.

In artistic swimming, the awards were taken by Svetlana Kolesnichenko from Russia and Italy’s Giorgio Minisini and in open water swimming Hungary’s Kristóf  Rasovszky and Dutchwoman Sharon van Rouwendaal claimed the prizes.

In water polo, the winners were Serbia’s Filip Filipović and another Dutchwoman, Sabrina van der Sloot.

"European athletes enjoyed another outstanding year and offered superb performances whenever they competed," LEN President Paolo Barelli said.

"For European Aquatics certainly the European Championships were the absolute highlights of the year and the results achieved in Glasgow had a big impact on our prestigious awards.

"Let me congratulate all winners and all the others appearing on the shortlists, they deserve every credit for their determination and excellence."