The Golden Goggle Awards will take place this Sunday, November 22 in Los Angeles. In the final days leading up to the event, the final three award categories have been highlighted. This week's focus is Coach of the Year, Female Athlete of the Year and Male Athlete of the Year.
Coach of the Year
This award is given to the coach whose athlete(s) performed at the highest level throughout the year, with special emphasis on the 2009 World Championships.
Bob Bowman – North Baltimore Aquatic Club
Bob Bowman coached two swimmers onto the 2009 World Championship team – Michael Phelps and Brennan Morris. Phelps earned five gold medals and one silver medal in Rome and added to his legacy as the best swimmer in the history of the sport. In Rome, Phelps won the 100m and 200m butterfly, and swam key legs on all three men’s gold-medal-winning relays. The silver came in the 200m free. Morris was a surprise to make the World Championship team, finishing second in the 1500m free at the Trials in Indianapolis. The 18-year-old went on to finish 15th in the 1500m free in Rome. Bowman also had a hand in helping Allison Schmitt to her fine performances this summer. Schmitt, who won two silver medals in Rome, trained with the North Baltimore team during altitude camp in Colorado. Bowman was the head men’s coach in Rome, his ninth straight year in which he served on a National Team staff of the top U.S. trip. Bowman won the Golden Goggle in 2006, 2007 and 2008 as Coach of the Year and has been nominated for this award six straight years. He is currently the CEO and head coach of the North Baltimore Aquatic Club.
Sean Hutchison – King Aquatics/Fullerton
Sean Hutchison helped guide Ariana Kukors to a spectacular performance in the 200m IM in Rome. It was the first international medal for Kukors, and the first major international gold medal (as coach) for Hutchison, who also served as the American women’s head coach at Worlds. Kukors made the most of her two swims at the World Championships, breaking the world record two times on her way to gold in the 200m IM, and also swimming a key leg on the 4x200m free relay that won silver. Hutchison served on his fourth national team staff, which included a stint as assistant women’s coach on the 2008 Olympic team. He was the head coach of King Aquatics in Seattle, but recently took over as head coach of the Fullerton Aquatic Sports Team in Southern California.
Eddie Reese – Longhorn Aquatics/University of Texas
For the sixth straight year Eddie Reese has been nominated for the prestigious Golden Goggle as Coach of the Year. He placed six athletes on the men’s team at the World Championships – Aaron Peirsol, Eric Shanteau, David Walters, Ricky Berens, Garrett Weber-Gale and Jackson Wilcox. In Rome, Peirsol won two gold medals (200m back and medley relay), both in world record time, and Shanteau won his first three medals at a major international meet (gold in the medley relay, silver in the 200m breast and bronze in the 200m IM). Reese also coached Peirsol to two world records in the 100m and 200m back at the World Trials in Indianapolis. Reese, who has been at the helm of the University of Texas program for 31 years, has shown amazing consistency over the past years, having also placed eight athletes on the 2008 Olympic team. The three-time Olympic head coach previously won the Golden Goggle for Coach of the Year in 2004 and 2005.
Dave Salo – Trojan Swim Club/University of Southern California
Dave Salo placed two athletes onto the 2009 U.S. World Championships team – Rebecca Soni and Keri Hehn. Soni had a stellar 100m breaststroke, winning the gold medal and breaking the world record in the finals. Soni was also the silver medalist in the 50m breaststroke and fourth in the 200m breaststroke. Hehn, in her first World Championships, placed ninth in the 200m breast. This is the second straight Golden Goggles nomination for Salo, who had some of his other Trojan Swim Club athletes – Ous Meloulli from Tunisia (three medals including gold in the 1500m free) and Katinka Hosszu of Hungary (gold in the 400m IM, bronze in the 200m IM) – have stellar performances in Rome. Salo, in his fourth year as head coach for the men and women at USC, also coached Jessica Hardy to a world record in the 100m breaststroke at the U.S. Open in August.
Gregg Troy – Gator Swim Club/University of Florida
Gregg Troy earned his fourth straight Golden Goggle nomination for Coach of the Year by way of the performances of his standout pupil, Ryan Lochte. Lochte was one of the stars of the World Championships in Rome, capturing four gold medals and one bronze medal. He won the 200m and 400m IM, swam key legs on both freestyle relays that won gold, and also earned a bronze medal in the 200m back. Lochte set two world records, one in the 200m IM, and one as part of the 4x200m free relay. He also won both individual medley events at the ConocoPhillips National Championships in July. Troy, a two-time Olympic assistant coach (1996 and 2008), is in his 12th year as head coach at the University of Florida and was most recently the head men’s coach for the U.S. at the 2008 Short Course World Championships in Manchester, England.
Female Athlete of the Year
This award is given to the top female swimmer of the year with special emphasis on achievements at the 2009 FINA World Championships.
Ariana Kukors
Ariana Kukors made the most of her opportunities at the 2009 World Championships and left her mark on the swimming world with two record-breaking performances in Rome. Initially, Kukors had missed qualifying for the 200m IM at World Championship Trials in July, but she was given the opportunity to compete in the event in Rome after Elizabeth Pelton scratched the event to focus on her other individual swims. Kukors proved she was up for the challenge when she broke the American record in the prelims and then shattered the world record not once, but twice on her way to her first World Championship gold medal. In the semifinal of the event, Kukors broke Australian Stephanie Rice’s world record by more than a second and in the final, Kukors won gold in 2:06.15, dropping another second off the world record. In addition to her outstanding performance in the 200m IM, Kukors also earned a silver medal in the American record-setting 4 x 200m free relay.
Rebecca Soni
Rebecca Soni followed a breakout year in 2008 with stellar performances at the 2009 World Championships, ConocoPhillips National Championships and the NCAA Championships. In the spring, she ended her collegiate career at USC by sweeping both breaststroke events at the NCAA Championships. Her win in the 200y breast was done in American record time and she broke the NCAA record in the 100y breast. At the 2009 ConocoPhillips National Championships in July, Soni won both the 100m and 200m breast, setting an American record in the 100m discipline. She then followed up her performance at Nationals with a strong performance at World Championships in Rome, winning the 100m breast in world-record time and earning an unexpected silver medal in the 50m breast.
Dana Vollmer
Dana Vollmer has been one of the top female swimmers in the country since she burst on the scene as 12-year-old as the youngest competitor at the 2000 Olympic Trials. In 2009 she catapulted to the top of the field with strong performances at both the NCAA Championships and the 2009 FINA World Championships. Vollmer ended her college career at Cal with two individual NCAA titles and two NCAA relay titles, leading the Golden Bears to their first-ever NCAA team title. Vollmer was recognized for her accomplishments by being named the 2009 NCAA Swimmer of the Year, Pac-10 Swimmer of the Year and Honda Sports Award winner for Swimming. At her second World Championships this summer, she captured a silver medal in the 4x200m free relay and a bronze medal in the 200m free. Vollmer also won the 100m and 200m free at the 2009 ConocoPhillips National Championships.
Male Athlete of the Year
This award is given to the top male swimmer of the year with special emphasis on achievements at the 2009 FINA World Championships.
Ryan Lochte
Ryan Lochte left Rome this summer as one of the most decorated athletes of the FINA World Championships. While in Italy, Lochte set two world records and took home a total of four gold medals and one bronze medal. After winning both the 200m and 400m IM at Nationals in July, Lochte solidified his position as the top IM swimmer in the world with World Championship titles in both the 400m and 200m IM. He also broke the world record in the 200m IM. Lochte was also an integral part of both the gold-medal winning 4x100m relay team that upset the French, as well as the world-record setting 4x200m free relay.
Aaron Peirsol
Aaron Peirsol continues to prove, time and time again, that he is the most dominant backstroker in the world. After spending some time out of the pool following his success at the 2008 Olympics, Peirsol set the swimming world on fire in 2009 when he broke world records in the 100m and 200m back at the ConocoPhillips National Championships in July, earning his 12th and 13th National titles. Weeks later at the FINA World Championships, Peirsol suffered a disappointing swim in the semifinals of the 100m back, however, he bounced back to break the world record with a gold-medal winning 200m back performance (1:51.92). Peirsol took home his second gold medal and world record of the meet as the lead-off in the 400m medley relay. With both of his world-record swims this year, Peirsol made history as he became the first person to swim the 100m back in under 52 seconds and the first person to swim the 200m back in under 1 minute and 52 seconds.
Michael Phelps
Michael Phelps may have altered his event program in 2009, but he kept his winning formula with strong performances at both the 2009 ConocoPhillips National Championships and the 2009 FINA World Championships in Rome. At Nationals in July, Phelps won three events (200m free / 100m and 200m fly) and broke the world record in the 100m fly – a record that had eluded the world class swimmer since 2005. Weeks later at World Championships, Phelps again proved to the world that he is one of the most dominant swimmers to ever hit the water. He won six medals in Rome, including gold medals in the 200m and 100m fly, 4x100m free relay, 4x200m free relay and 4x100m medley relay. He set two individual world records in the 200m and 100m fly and became the first person in history to swim the 100m fly under 50 seconds. His standout performance in Italy earned Phelps the FINA Male Swimmer of the Meet award.