A total of 13 U.S. Olympians are nominated for awards in eight categories. Fans can vote for their favorites online at usaswimming.org/GoldenGoggleAwards. Voting begins Oct. 11 and will continue through November.
Michael Phelps (Baltimore, Md. / Club Wolverine) tops the ballot with three individual nominations and two relay nominations after setting three world records this summer. Distance champion Kate Ziegler (Great Falls, Va. / The Fish) and Breakout Performer of the Year nominee Whitney Myers (Oxford, Ohio / Tucson Ford) are the most-nominated women with two individual nominations apiece.
For Male Athlete of the Year, Phelps will face stiff competition from Olympians Brendan Hansen (Havertown, Pa. / Longhorn) and Aaron Peirsol (Irvine, Calif. / Longhorn). All three athletes set world records this summer at the 2006 Mutual of Omaha Pan Pacific Championships.
Two U.S. Olympians are looking to repeat in the Female Athlete of the Year category, including five-time Olympic medalist Natalie Coughlin (Vallejo, Calif. / Cal Aquatics) and American record holder Katie Hoff (Towson, Md. / North Baltimore). Rounding out the ballot in this category is second-time nominee Ziegler.
In the Coach of the Year category, newly-named Olympic head coach Eddie Reese (Univ. of Texas) will look for his third consecutive Golden Goggle Award. He is joined on the ballot by Bob Bowman (Club Wolverine), Gregg Troy (Univ. of Florida) and Paul Yetter (North Baltimore Aquatic Club).
Also in Golden Goggle Award contention are three record-setting U.S. relay teams from the Pan Pacific Championships. The world-record-setting men’s 4 x 100m free relay team of Phelps, Neil Walker (Verona, Wis. / Longhorn), Cullen Jones (New Brunswick, N.J. / NC State Aquatics) and Jason Lezak (Irvine, Calif. / Irvine Novaquatics) are joined on the ballot by the American record-setting women's 4 x 100m free relay team of Coughlin, Amanda Weir (Lawrenceville, Ga. / Swim Atlanta), Lacey Nymeyer (Tucson, Ariz. / Tucson Ford) and Kara Lynn Joyce (Ann Arbor, Mich. / Athens Bulldog). Also nominated for the award is the men's 4 x 200m free relay team of Phelps, Ryan Lochte (Daytona Beach, Fla. / Daytona Beach Swimming), Klete Keller (Phoenix, Ariz. / Club Wolverine) and Peter Vanderkaay (Rochester, Mich. / Club Wolverine), which broke the American record for the third time at the Pan Pacific Championships.
The complete list of 2006 nominees:
- Breakout Performer of the Year:
Cullen Jones
Whitney Myers
Chloe Sutton - Perseverance Award:
Megan Jendrick
Hayley Peirsol
Erik Vendt - Coach of the Year:
Bob Bowman
Eddie Reese
Gregg Troy
Paul Yetter - Relay Performance of the Year: (all from the Pan Pacific Championships):
Women's 4 x 100m Free Relay
Men's 4 x 100m Free Relay
Men's 4 x 200m Free Relay - Female Performance of the Year:
Amanda Weir for the 100m Freestyle at U.S. Nationals
Kate Ziegler for the 1500m Freestyle at Pan Pacifics
Whitney Myers for the 200m IM at Pan Pacifics - Male Performance of the Year:
Aaron Peirsol for the 200m Backstroke at Pan Pacifics
Brendan Hansen for the 200m Breaststroke at Pan Pacifics
Michael Phelps for the 200m Butterfly at Pan Pacifics
Michael Phelps for the 200m IM at Pan Pacifics - Female Athlete of the Year:
Natalie Coughlin
Katie Hoff
Kate Ziegler - Male Athlete of the Year:
Brendan Hansen
Aaron Peirsol
Michael Phelps
About the USA Swimming Foundation: The USA Swimming Foundation was established in 2004 for the purpose of using the sport of swimming to make communities better. The Foundation focuses its resources on three main arenas: making communities safer in and around the water so as to reduce drownings; encouraging diversity in the sport of swimming; and using swimming to promote a healthy lifestyle and to combat issues such as childhood obesity. Based in Colorado Springs, the Foundation is governed by its own board of directors and is managed by USA Swimming staff members, including three-time Olympic gold medalist Rowdy Gaines. For more information visit the USA Swimming Foundation online.
About USA Swimming: As the National Governing Body for competitive swimming in the United States, USA Swimming formulates the rules, implements policies and procedures, conducts national championships, disseminates safety and sports medicine information and selects athletes to represent the United States in international competition. USA Swimming has more than 300,000 members nationwide and sanctions more than 7,000 events each year. For more information, visit USA Swimming online.