USA Swimming Announces Nominees For Fourth-Annual Golden Goggle Swimming Awards

USA Swimming today released the nominations for the 2007 Golden Goggle Awards, a red carpet event celebrating the accomplishments of top American swimmers in 2007. The star-studded celebration will take place at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Sunday, Nov. 18, and will feature U.S. Olympic swimmers as well as entertainment industry celebrities. Late night talk show host Carson Daly (NBC's "Last Call with Carson Daly") will host this year's event. Fans can vote for the winners online at www.GoldenGoggles.com. Online voting begins Oct. 15 and will continue through November 10.

Michael Phelps (Baltimore, Md. / Club Wolverine) headlines the ballot with three individual nominations and two relay nominations following his historic performance at the 2007 FINA World Championships. Phelps won a record-setting seven gold medals and broke four individual world records. He's followed by Ryan Lochte (Daytona Beach, Fla.) with four nominations. Natalie Coughlin (Vallejo, Calif.), Katie Hoff (Towson, Md.), and Kate Ziegler (Great Falls, Va) lead the women's field with three nominations each.

Among the nominees for 2007 Male Athlete of the Year, Phelps will compete against fellow world record-holders Lochte and Aaron Peirsol (Irvine, Calif.). All three athletes set individual world records this summer at World Championships. The three swimmers also make up the field of nominees in the Male Performance of the Year category.

The 2007 Female Athlete of the Year category features Coughlin, Hoff, and Ziegler, who are also nominated in the Female Performance of the Year category. Hoff took home the Female Athlete of the Year award in 2005 and 2006, while Coughlin won the award in 2004.

The Coach of the Year ballot includes Bob Bowman (Club Wolverine), Gregg Troy (Univ. of Florida), Paul Yetter (North Baltimore Aquatic Club), Teri McKeever (Cal Aquatics) and Ray Benecki (The Fish).

Also in Golden Goggle Award contention are three record-setting relay teams from World Championships. The world record-setting women's 800m free relay team of Coughlin, Dana Vollmer (Granbury, Texas), Lacey Nymeyer (Tucson, Ariz.) and Hoff are joined on the ballot by the championship record-setting men's 800m free relay team of Phelps, Lochte, Peter Vanderkaay (Rochester, Mich.) and Klete Keller (Phoenix, Ariz.). The world record-setting men's 400m free relay team of Phelps, Neil Walker (Verona, Wis.), Cullen Jones (New Brunswick, N.J.) and Jason Lezak (Irvine, Calif.) is also nominated.

In other categories, Rebecca Soni (Plainsboro, NJ), Kim Vandenberg (Moraga, Calif.) and Ben Wildman-Tobriner (San Francisco, Calif.) are nominated as Breakout Performers of the Year. The ballot for Perseverance Award features Lochte, Margaret Hoelzer (Huntsville, Ala.) and open water star Mark Warkentin (Santa Barbara, Calif.).

Nominees For Fourth-Annual Golden Goggle Swimming Awards

Breakout Performer of the Year:

• Rebecca Soni
• Kim Vandenberg
• Ben Wildman-Tobriner

Perseverance Award:


• Margaret Hoelzer
• Ryan Lochte
• Mark Warkentin

Coach of the Year:


• Ray Benecki
• Bob Bowman
• Teri McKeever
• Gregg Troy
• Paul Yetter

Relay Performance of the Year: (all from the 2007 FINA World Championships)


• Women's 800 Free Relay
• Men's 400 Free Relay
• Men's 800 Free Relay

Female Performance of the Year:


• Natalie Coughlin for the 100m Backstroke at World Championships
• Katie Hoff for the 400m IM at World Championships
• Kate Ziegler for the 800m Freestyle at World Championships
• Kate Ziegler for the 1500m Freestyle at TYR Meet of Champions in Mission Viejo

Male Performance of the Year:


• Ryan Lochte for the 200m Backstroke at World Championships
• Aaron Peirsol for the 100m Backstroke at World Championships
• Michael Phelps for the 200m Freestyle at World Championships
• Michael Phelps for the 200m Butterfly at World Championships

Female Athlete of the Year:


• Natalie Coughlin
• Katie Hoff
• Kate Ziegler

Male Athlete of the Year:


• Ryan Lochte
• 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 areas: 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 Chief Fundraising and Alumni Development Officer and three-time Olympic gold medalist Rowdy Gaines. For more information, visit usaswimming.org/foundation.

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. For more information, visit USA Swimming on-line.