2022 Golden Goggle Awards
- Nov. 21, 2022
- New York Marriott Marquis
- 2022 Golden Goggles Nominees
- Live Recap
A pair of former Florida Gators swept the top honors at the 18th annual Golden Goggle Awards on Monday night.
Katie Ledecky made history with her eighth Female Athlete of the Year award, surpassing Michael Phelps (seven) for most times winning the honor. She previously won Female Athlete of the Year in 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2021.
At the 2022 World Championships, Ledecky brought home four gold medals from Budapest. Her 800 freestyle victory earned her the Race of the Year award earlier in the evening and her 4×200 free relay got her the Relay of the Year award. The 25-year-old also took gold in the 1500 freestyle, swimming a 15:30.15 in the event to defeat the field. Her fourth gold medal swim of the meet was a 3:58.15 Championships record in the 400 free.
Ledecky received the nod over five other nominees: Alex Walsh, Katie Grimes, Lilly King, Regan Smith, and Torri Huske.
Male Athlete of the Year went to Bobby Finke for the first time. Last year, he won Race of the Year for his 800 free gold medal swim at the Tokyo Olympics. This year, the 23-year-old lowered the national records in both the 800 and 1500 freestyles in Budapest, clocking a 7:39.36 and 14:36.70, respectively. His 800 free victory earned him the Race of the Year award earlier in the ceremony. Finke earned the honor over fellow nominees Carson Foster, Nic Fink, and Ryan Murphy. Fink and Murphy and also won an individual gold and silver at Worlds, but Finke was the only one to do so and break two American records along the way.
The Gators added to their big night with Anthony Nesty taking home the Coach of the Year award.
Other Golden Goggle Award Winners:
- Female Athlete of the Year: Katie Ledecky
- Male Athlete of the Year: Bobby Finke
- Female Race of the Year: Katie Ledecky, 800 Free
- Male Race of the Year: Bobby Finke, 800 Free
- Relay Performance of the Year: Women’s 4×200 Free Relay
- Breakout Performer of the Year: Leah Hayes
- Perseverance Award: Leah Smith
- Coach of the Year: Anthony Nesty
- Impact Awards: Carol Zaleski, Bill Maxson
Event Livestream
RED CARPET – WHAT DID THEY WEAR?
Call it the Katie Ledecky award!
Carson not getting a single award after not only going a bunch of PBS. But also crossing a mental barrier in his life is crazy to me
I don’t think he fits the bill for the perseverance award. And it’s pretty simple; he had one gold, one silver when another athlete had two golds with two records.
I’m a big fan of Foster, and I think he will be a staple of American swimming for the next 10 years. He’ll get his awards.
You mean 1 gold 1 silver (finke) vs 2 silvers (carson) right? For male performance.
Yes… whoops. Point still stands though.
Which award do you think he should have gotten?