USA Swimming Announces Golden Goggles Nominees; Simone Manuel, Caeleb Dressel Headline

Photo Courtesy: David Rieder

World champions Caeleb Dressel (Green Cove Springs, Fla./Bolles School Sharks/Florida) and Simone Manuel (Sugar Land, Texas/Stanford Swimming) lead the way with six nominations each for the 2017 USA Swimming Golden Goggle Awards, set for Sunday, Nov. 19 at the JW Marriott Los Angeles L.A. LIVE.

Full event details, including table and seat purchasing opportunities, can be found at GoldenGoggles.com.

The nation’s top swimmers and coaches are nominated in eight categories for the 14th Annual Golden Goggle Awards, the celebration and fundraising gala honoring the sport’s top performances of the year. This year’s event, emceed by actor, comedian and former swimmer Anders Holm and featuring entertainment from The Second City improvisational comedy group, will once again mix swimming stars with celebrities, business leaders and entertainment icons in vibrant downtown Los Angeles.

Dressel’s six nominations include Male Athlete of the Year, Male Race of the Year for the 100-meter freestyle and 100m butterfly at the 2017 FINA World Championships, as well was Relay Performance of the Year for the men’s 4x100m free relay, mixed 400m medley relay and mixed 400m free relay in Budapest.

Manuel is nominated for Female Athlete of the Year, Female Race of the Year for the 100m free at the FINA World Championships, as well as for anchoring four entries in the Relay Performance of the Year category.

Lilly King (Evansville, Ind./Indiana University) earned five nominations, while Katie Ledecky (Bethesda, Md./Stanford Swimming) and Mallory Comerford (Kalamazoo, Mich./University of Louisville) garnered three nods apiece.

Golden Goggle Award nominations are based on the year’s top accomplishments by U.S. swimmers, focusing primarily on the 2017 FINA World Championships. The Americans topped the medal table in Budapest with 41 total medals across pool and open water competition. The complete list of 2017 Golden Goggle Award nominees by category is below.

Online fan voting is now open and will continue through Friday, Nov. 10. A percentage of the fan vote will count towards the final ballot. Beginning later this week USA Swimming will highlight Golden Goggle Awards categories weekly on usaswimming.org and across its social media channels in the lead-up to the Nov. 19 event.

Proceeds from the Golden Goggle Awards benefit the USA Swimming Foundation, which has the mission to save lives and build champions – in the pool and in life. In addition to its Make a Splash initiative, a national, child-focused water safety campaign that stresses the importance of learning to swim, the USA Swimming Foundation supports the U.S. National Team and its development efforts aim to establish an endowment to strengthen the future of USA Swimming’s programs and services. The Foundation also serves as the home for our National and Olympic Team Alumni reunions and regional events.

2017 Golden Goggle Awards Nominees

Breakout Performer of the Year
Mallory Comerford
Madisyn Cox
Bethany Galat
Townley Haas

Perseverance Award
Elizabeth Beisel
Matt Grevers
Ashley Twichell

Coach of the Year
Jack Bauerle
Ray Looze
Greg Meehan
Gregg Troy

Relay Performance of the Year
Women’s 4x100m Freestyle Relay, 2017 FINA World Championships
Men’s 4x100m Freestyle Relay, 2017 FINA World Championships
Women’s 4x100m Medley Relay, 2017 FINA World Championships
Mixed 4x100m Freestyle Relay, 2017 FINA World Championships
Mixed 4x100m Medley Relay, 2017 FINA World Championships

Female Race of the Year
Lilly King, 50m Breaststroke, 2017 FINA World Championships
Lilly King, 100m Breaststroke, 2017 FINA World Championships
Katie Ledecky, 400m Freestyle, 2017 FINA World Championships
Simone Manuel, 100m Freestyle, 2017 FINA World Championships
Ashley Twichell, 5K Open Water, 2017 FINA World Championships

Male Race of the Year
Caeleb Dressel, 100m Freestyle, 2017 FINA World Championships
Caeleb Dressel, 100m Butterfly, 2017 FINA World Championships
Chase Kalisz, 400m Individual Medley, 2017 FINA World Championships

Female Athlete of the Year
Lilly King
Katie Ledecky
Simone Manuel

Male Athlete of the Year
Caeleb Dressel
Chase Kalisz

The above press release courtesy of USA Swimming

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