Dawson crowned overall winner of 2025 Waterford Sports Awards

Anna Dawson has been crowned the overall winner of the Waterford Sports Awards in association with WLR and the Granville Hotel.

Anna was announced as the 2025 winner at a black-tie Gala Banquet held at the Granville Hotel on Saturday, January 17th, on an evening where Waterford’s best and brightest sports stars gathered to celebrate their magnificent achievements.

2025 was the year of a lifetime for Anna Dawson as she won the AIG Irish Women’s Close Championship in August, before helping Ireland to victory in the Home Internationals. These achievements also led the 22-year-old to be crowned Irish Women’s Amateur Golfer of the Year.

She saw off some stellar competition on the night to claim the overall award, seeing off national marathon champion David McGlynn, Irish basketball stars Kate and Sarah Hickey, world masters medallist Joe Gough, Munster and Ireland forward Tom Ahern, karate champion Dean O’Mahony, star surfer Tom Breen, All Ireland minor winning manager James O’Connor and GAA stars Dessie Hutchinson, Pauric Mahony and Stephen Bennett.

It was also a special night for the Guinan family, as 1959 All-Ireland winner Larry Guinan became the second inductee into the Waterford Sporting Hall of Fame - in recognition of a lifetime of tremendous achievement in Gaelic Games.

Larry (88) is one of the last surviving members of the famed Déise side that last lifted the Liam McCarthy Cup.

The Mount Sion man played for Waterford for 17 years from 1957 to 1973, scoring 12-11 for his county, winning three Munster medals, a National League title and that famed All-Ireland crown.

At club level, he won 11 Waterford Senior Hurling Championship titles and three Waterford Senior Football Championship titles. Guinan also won five Railway Cup medals and played for five years for the Déise senior footballers.

Larry Guinan is widely considered one of the greatest hurlers ever to grace the pitch and is a worthy entrant to the Waterford Sporting Hall of Fame.

A statement from the Waterford Sports Awards committee said: “2025 was another remarkable year for Waterford sport with a litany of achievements from local to international level.

“The athletes awarded this year represented their county, communities, and families with distinction, and the awards night is a celebration of their incredible dedication, talent, and commitment.

“Anna Dawson put herself on the map as one of Ireland’s finest up-and-coming golfers in 2025 and is a worthy recipient of the overall award, while the sporting achievements of Larry Guinan need little introduction and the regard in which he is held simply speaks for itself.

“We hope that 2026 will be another year of tremendous achievement that imbues the sense of pride we have become accustomed to.”