We are pleased to announce that David Martinez Delgado has been awarded the Eva Hedberg Scholarship for Artistic Sports. Previous winners include gymnasts Alva Svennbeck, Luis Il-Sung Melander and Jennifer Williams, and diver Emilia Nilsson Garip. The scholarship was awarded based on athletic merit, potential, curiosity, and drive. David receives the 2025 scholarship of SEK 11,750 plus the corresponding value in optional training assistance from svexa.
David has already broken barriers early in his career and made history in his sport. Last year, at the age of 16, he became Sweden’s first male rhythmic swimmer to participate in the World Championships. An achievement in itself, topped off by David reaching the final in his debut. The result was also followed up with an impressive fourth place at the European Championships later in the summer.
As David says “I feel very honored to have been awarded this scholarship! Artistic swimming is still a small sport in Sweden, and it makes me proud to have such a large impact. I hope that I can inspire many more people to try the sport, so that it can grow and continue to develop. I would also like to give a special thanks to my teammates and coaches, because they have all helped me get to where I am today.”
We believe that David will continue to develop both athletically but also as a role model and pioneer in rhythmic swimming, completely in line with Eva’s memory. We hope that with this scholarship we will further contribute to David’s development and goal of participating in several international competitions and achieving great success in international championships.
Congratulations David!
Eva Hedberg was an elite rhythmic gymnast who won the first three Swedish championships in the discipline and competed in several world championships. Her later work was devoted to education, especially for future teachers in sports, health and special education. In her memory and in her spirit, in 2020 Svexa established the Eva Hedberg scholarship for artistic sports.
Both during her own active career and many years thereafter, Eva was a driving force in the development of the sport in Sweden. Throughout her life, she was active and curious about new opportunities, an important trait for being able to succeed in elite sports. The activities ranged from tennis and golf to cross-country skiing and long-distance skating. She also started rock climbing – as a 73-year-old!
By passing on her knowledge, she strived to improve the conditions for the next generation. She did so at an elite level and has been awarded the prize Best Educator of the Year from Uppsala University.
