Kevin Nealon - Host for the 2011 Golden Goggle Awards

LA Live was vibrant and abuzz with activity Sunday, November 20th with the Golden Goggle Awards, LA Car Show and the American Music Awards all converging in downtown Los Angeles for a weekend of celebration and fun. Gray skies and a light drizzle failed to dampen spirits as throngs of people crowded into the LA Live corridor patiently waiting to see their favorite pop star walk the red carpet, or over at the car show drooling over one of the hot new concept cars on display.

The electrifying weekend capped off in the Diamond Ballroom of the JW Marriott where Kevin Nealon took to the stage as host and emcee of the 8th Annual Golden Goggle Awards & Silent Auction.

2011 Golden Goggle Award Winners:

Breakout Performer of the Year: Alex Meyer

Perserverance Award: Peter Vanderkaay

Coach of the Year: Gregg Troy

Female Race of the Year: Missy Franklin, 200 Back, FINA World Championships

Male Race of the Year: Ryan Lochte, 200 Back, FINA World Championships

Female Athlete of the Year: Missy Franklin

Male Athlete of the Year: Ryan Lochte

Relay Performance of the Year: Women's 4x100 Medley Relay, FINA World Championships. Natalie Coughlin, Rebecca Soni, Dana Vollmer, Missy Franklin.

The presentation of the 2011 Impact Award was proudly awarded to Carolyn Dirks for her unwavering support, commitment and dedication to the sport of swimming over the last decade. Carolyn embodies the true spirit of altruism and compassion and her heartfelt acceptance speech prompted a standing ovation from the crowd. 

A fantastic line-up of celebrities joined the festivities and graciously presented awards on this magical evening: Michael Lewis, (author of Moneyball and The Blind Side).  Actors, John Slattery, Kevin Farley and Chris Bauer rounded out our A-list of celebrities. 

Olympian's, Louie Zamperini (subject of the recently released book, Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption), Cameron Winklevoss, Tyler Winklevoss,  Debbie Meyer, Matt Biondi, David Berkoff, John Naber, Janet Evans, Summer Sanders, Amy Van Dyken, Dave Whorton, Rowdy Gaines and Bryan Clay completed our impressive list of award presenters. 

Thank you to all our guests for making the 2011 Golden Goggle Awards and Silent Auction a grand success and congratulations to all the Golden Goggle nominees and award winners for your outstanding performances at the 2011 World Championships in Shanghai last summer!

Red carpet and event photos from the evening are available for download now!  Click here to be directed to our special event site and enter GG2011 at checkout to download your complimentary photos.

Your participation in the Golden Goggle Awards & Silent Auction is gratefully appreciated and will help us underwrite and support the USA Swimming Foundation's mission of saving lives and building champions. We hope you will join us next year in New York City at the 2012 Golden Goggle Awards and Silent Auction!

The seventh annual Golden Goggle Awards, held at the Marriott Marquis in New York City honored the 2010 Mutual of Omaha Pan Pacific Championship Team!  It was a night to be remembered with the following athletes taking home awards:
 
Breakout Performer of the Year: Missy Franklin

Perseverance Award: Kate Ziegler

Coach of the Year Award: Gregg Troy

Female Race of the Year: Rebecca Soni, 200 Breaststroke,

Mutual of Omaha Pan Pacific Championships

Male Race of the Year: Ryan Lochte, 200 IM,

Mutual of Omaha Pan Pacific Championships

Female Athlete of the Year: Rebecca Soni

Male Athlete of the Year: Ryan Lochte

Relay Performance of the Year: Women's 400 Medley Relay,

Mutual of Omaha Pan Pacific Championships
Natalie Coughlin, Jessica Hardy,

Rebecca Soni, Dana Vollmer                                                

The 2009 Golden Goggle Awards were a huge sucess! Many thanks to all of the guests, coaches, celebrities and, of course, the athletes who made it a special night! Check out the winners from 2009 below.  

Breakout Performer of the Year: Tyler Clary

Perseverence Award: Dana Vollmer

Coach of the Year: Eddie Reese

Female Race of the Year: Ariana Kukors, 200 IM,

2009 World Championships

Male Race of the Year: Michael Phelps, 100 Butterfly,

2009 World Championships

Female Athlete of the Year: Rebecca Soni

Male Athlete of the Year: Ryan Lochte

Relay Performance of the Year: Men's 4x100 Free Relay, 2009 World Championships:

                                                   Nathan Adrian, Matt Grevers, Ryan Lochte and Michael Phelps