USA Swimming To Celebrate Weekend of Events Leading Up To 2006 Golden Goggle Awards

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado, October 31. A who's who of the swimming community will gather in Beverly Hills, Calif., Nov. 18-19 for a weekend full of activity surrounding the third-annual Golden Goggle Awards, USA Swimming's year-end celebration.

Nearly 100 Olympians, including Michael Phelps, Amanda Beard and Mark Spitz, as well as Hollywood headliners, including Billy Bush (Access Hollywood), Camryn Manheim (The Practice, Ghost Whisperer), David James Elliott (JAG), Jon Cryer (Two and a Half Men) and Gil Bellows (Ally McBeal, The Shawshank Redemption), will attend the star-studded awards gala, which is the signature event for the USA Swimming Foundation.

Also among the weekend activities is a community event featuring more than 800 age-group swimmers from the Los Angeles area and an exclusive screening of PRIDE, a swimming-themed major motion picture.

AAF Golden Goggle Awards Meet & Greet
USA Swimming and the Amateur Athletic Foundation of Los Angeles (AAF) will host the AAF Golden Goggle Awards Meet & Greet, Saturday, Nov. 18 at the AAF Rose Bowl Aquatic Center in Pasadena, Calif. The event is a swim meet highlighted by appearances by some of USA Swimming's top stars. The event is an effort of the USA Swimming Foundation, which strives to encourage diversity in the sport.

More than 800 age-group swimmers from the Los Angeles area are expected to compete at the meet. Coupled with the swim meet will be the "greet" portion of the event on Nov. 18 from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m., in which members of the community will be invited to meet a handful of top Olympians and hopefuls, including Cullen Jones and Maritza Correia. The athletes will participate in a Q&A session, and will be available for autographs and photos on the Golden Goggles red carpet.

Exclusive Screening of PRIDE
USA Swimming and Lionsgate will present the first public screening of "PRIDE", a swimming-themed major motion picture, on Saturday, Nov. 18 at 7 p.m. at the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles. The movie, which is scheduled to be released on March 23, 2007, is based on the true events of Jim Ellis. This inspiring story portrays the charismatic schoolteacher in the 1970s who changed lives forever when he founded an African-American swim team in one of Philadelphia's roughest neighborhoods. This life-affirming drama stars Academy Award ® nominee Terrence Howard (Hustle & Flow, Crash, Ray), Bernie Mac (Guess Who, Oceans 12, Bad Santa) and Kimberly Elise (Diary of a Mad Black Woman, Manchurian Candidate, John Q). The director Sunu Gonera will be at the screening to introduce the film, and Ellis will also be in attendance.

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