Katie Ledecky, Ryan Murphy Win 2018 Golden Goggles Athlete of the Year Awards

The Golden Goggle Awards are USA Swimming’s yearly awards gala, and they’re happening tonight in New York City. You can follow along on the USA Swimming website, which will livestream the event. Follow the link below:

WATCH THE 2018 GOLDEN GOGGLE AWARDS HERE

Fans have been voting for the past two months on awards, with the fan vote counting for a portion of the final award decision. You can check out our full ballot here.

Tentative schedule for tonight:

7:00pm – Presentation of 2018 Pan Pacs team, followed by Female Race of the Year, Male Race of the Year, and entertainment

7:45pm – Dinner

8:30pm – Silent Auction ends

8:40pm – remainder of the program, including the rest of the award presentations

After an introduction by host John O’Hurley, the evening got underway with the presentation of the 2018 Pan Pacs team.  The staff and athletes walked in a number of unique ways, ranging from the men’s coaching staff dabbing to a few semi-nervous waves to bows…and some flossing.

2018 GOLDEN GOGGLES NOMINEES – WINNERS

Female Race of the Year – Kathleen Baker, 100 Back, 2018 USA Nationals

The voters had two world records from which to choose, as both Baker and Katie Ledecky set new marks in the spring.  Ledecky may have been a big of a victim of her own success, as she’s broken world records seemingly at-will over the past few years, although she did get this one style, as it came in her professional swim. Baker’s 58.00 at this summer’s USA Nationals was a bit more surprising, and ended up launching her own pro career. It’d be hard to argue with either choice, and Baker’s swim got our vote.

Nominees:

• Katie Ledecky, 1500m Freestyle, 2018 TYR Pro Swim Series at Indianapolis
• Kathleen Baker, 100m Backstroke, 2018 Phillips 66 U.S. National Championships – SwimSwam’s Choice
• Micah Sumrall, 200m Breaststroke, 2018 Pan Pacific Championships
• Haley Anderson, Open Water 10K, 2018 Pan Pacific Championships

Male Race of the Year – Ryan Murphy, 100 Back, 2018 Pan Pacs

It felt like something of a comeback for Murphy, who had the kind of disappointing 2017 season that most swimmers would die for.  After sweeping the backstroke golds in Rio, Murphy had to “settle” for a bronze in the 100 and a silver in the 200 in Budapest at the 2017 World Championships.  He roared back in a big way in 2018, sweeping golds at Pan Pacs and coming within a tenth of a second of his world record.

Nominees:

• Michael Andrew, 50m Freestyle, 2018 Pan Pacific Championships
• Zane Grothe, 800m Freestyle, 2018 Pan Pacific Championships
• Ryan Murphy, 100m Backstroke, 2018 Pan Pacific Championships  – SwimSwam’s Choice
• Chase Kalisz, 200m Individual Medley, 2018 Pan Pacific Championships

Now, we take a break from the awards for a new game show called “Swimmers Got Talent.” Acts include…

• Zach Harting playing the White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army” and other selections on electric guitar.
• Chuck Katis performing card tricks and other other magic.
• A violin and piano/vocal rendition of “Let It Be”, starring Elizabeth Beisel and Katie Ledecky, respectively.

I was probably a little pitchy.  I’m sorry about that. – Katie Ledecky

And the winner is…Beisel and Ledecky.

Breakout Performer of the Year – Michael Andrew

We said in our ballot article that this award really depends on how you define “breakout.” While obviously all four nominees had great arguments in their favor, the voters opted to go with Andrew, who won his first national titles and a gold medal in the 50m free at the 2018 Pan Pacs. Andrew had lots of age group success, but his training style and a decision to go pro while still in high school, forgoing NCAA competition, raised the stakes in the minds of many fans of what it would take for him to be considered a success. While there still may be a few doubters out there, it’s hard to argue with an individual gold at a major international meet like Pan Pacs.

Nominees:

• Michael Andrew
• Zach Harting
• Austin Katz – SwimSwam’s Choice
• Andrew Seliskar

Perseverance Award – Micah Sumrall

Micah Sumrall, formerly Micah Lawrence, was a member of the 2012 US Olympic Team, swam only a couple of races (and no breaststroke) in the 2016-2017 season after missing the Olympic Team. She returned full-steam in 2017-2018, though, training out of a club team Chattahoochee Gold in Georgia that mostly caters to high school-and-younger swimmers. It was as if she hadn’t missed a beat, and she wound up winning gold at the Pan Pac Championships in the 200 breaststroke – her first international gold medal.

Nominees:

• Ella Eastin – SwimSwam’s Choice
• Katie McLaughlin
• Micah Sumrall

Coach of the Year – Greg Meehan, Stanford

All 5 nominees had swimmers with great years, but this race really came down to 2: Cal men’s head coach Dave Durden, who put 6 swimmers on the men’s Pan Pacs team; and his former assistant Greg Meehan, the Stanford women’s head coach, who put 5 on the women’s team. Meehan’s list included Brooke Forde, Katie Ledecky, Ella Eastin, Katie Drabot, and Simone Manuel. That included the miraculous qualification of Eastin after missing most of the training leading up to Nationals while battling mono. Add to that a 2nd-straight NCAA team title for Stanford, and Meehan was the voters’ choice.

Nominees:

• Jack Bauerle
• Dave Durden
• David Marsh
• Teri McKeever
• Greg Meehan – SwimSwam’s  Choice

Relay Performance of the Year – Men’s 400 Medley Relay, Pan Pacs (Ryan Murphy, Andrew Wilson, Caeleb Dressel, Nathan Adrian)

One of two relay titles for the US, in 7 tries, at the Pan Pac Championships, this was certainly the most exciting relay of the year. Murphy, in spite of being the World Record holder, trailed Ryosuke Irie to the wall on the backstroke. Japan’s Yasuhiro Koseki built that lead to half-a-second.

Caeleb Dressel clawed the Americans back into the race with a 50.6 split, and the veteran and indomitable anchor Nathan Adrian won what was basically a dead-heat with Japan when he left (and held off the Olympic champion Kyle Chalmers of Australia, who almost ran them down) for the win.

Nominees:

• Men’s 4x200m Freestyle Relay, 2018 Pan Pacific Championships – SwimSwam’s Choice
• Men’s 4x100m Medley Relay, 2018 Pan Pacific Championships

Female Athlete of the Year – Katie Ledecky

The 21-year old Ledecky wasn’t the unbeatable machine of a swimmer that she’s been in the past. She finished in 3rd in the individual 200 free at Pan Pacs, and the US 800 free relay took silver, to go with wins in the 400, 800, and 1500 frees. She also only won 2 of her 3 individual NCAA events: topping the 500 and 1650, but finishing 2nd to her teammate Ella Eastin in the 400 IM.

But, looked at through anybody else’s lens, she had another historic year. She broke the 1500 free World Record in her first swim as a professional. At a Pan Pac meet that was a little dicey, she won more medals and more individual medals than any other swimmer. She was one of two Americans to break a World Record this year, and the only one who both broke a World Record and won Pan Pacs gold in the same event (Baker broke the 100 back World Record at Nationals, but took bronze at Pan Pacs).

This marks Ledecky’s 6th-straight Female Athlete of the Year honor. Only Michael Phelps (7, not consecutively) has more.

• Haley Anderson
• Kathleen Baker
• Katie Ledecky – SwimSwam’s Choice

Male Athlete of the Year

His 3rd win of the night in 3 nominations, Ryan Murphy was named the Male Athlete of the Year. All three were viable and defensible choices, but as it usually does in these awards: the swimmer with the most medals won the day. Murphy won the 100 and 200 back and also took a 3rd gold in the 400 medley relay. Neither Kalisz nor Wilimovsky had a relay swim, and so each only won 2 golds (Kalisz – 200/400 IM; Wilimovsky – 1500/10k).

This is Murphy’s first Male Athlete of the Year Award and the first for any Cal men’s swimmer.

• Chase Kalisz
• Ryan Murphy – SwimSwam’s Choice
• Jordan Wilimovsky