2024 Golden Goggle Awards
- November 23, 2024
- Indianapolis, Indiana
- Livestream
- 2024 Nominees
- SwimSwam Official Ballot
Bobby Finke won his second ever Male Athlete of the Year Award at this evening’s Golden Goggles. His performance at the 2024 Olympic Games led to a new world record, and the only individual gold medal on the men’s side of the meet.
Finke won two individual medals at the 2024 Olympic Games. The first was a silver in the men’s 800m freestyle. The second was the event that won him this award tonight, the men’s 1500m freestyle where he won the gold medal, and set the world record.
Finke is well known for his ability to close races, but his 1500 at the Olympics was a different story. Finke was out fast and first rather than waiting for the end of the race to chase down the rest of the field. The new strategy worked for him, after he was unable to catch up to gold in the 800 free, still earning the silver.
In the men’s 1500m freestyle, Finke took down Sun Yang‘s 12-year-old record from the 2012 games going 14:30.67 to beat Yang’s 14:31.02. This world record had been chased before, but Yang’s seemingly impossible 53.49 last 100 with the 25.68 last 50 caught any athlete that tried, until Finke. While Finke didn’t close quite that fast, he built enough of a bank over the course of the race, that his last 100 of 55.34 came out victorious making Finke the first man ever under 14:31.
The GOAT
Broke a 32 year stranglehold of Australian-trained swimmers holding the 1500 world record (Perkins, Hackett, Yang).
First American male to hold the 1500 world record since Brian Goodell. Goodell held the world record from 1976-1980, when Vladimir Salnikov broke Goodell’s record.
There was no one else to even consider after a wretched display by the male contingent of USA Swimming at the 2024 Summer Olympics:
individual gold medal(s) – 1
relay gold medal(s) – 1
While it’s true that there wasn’t any competition for Finke, let’s also recognize that he had a standout meet in its own right.
Erased the vial-smasher from the WR books, repeated as Olympic Champion, and got pretty damn close to making it a double distance double. Has the US had a repeat individual champ since Phelps? Not Murphy, not Dressel… anyone?
From the men’s side*
Really thought this one was gonna go to MA
The kool-aid crowd is dying of thirst.