USA Swimming is preparing for the 2015 Golden Goggles Awards and are beginning to release the nominees for the 2015 Awards. The Golden Goggles Awards are presented by the USA Swimming Foundation every year to celebrate the top swimmers and coaches’ achievements over the last year.
There are eight categories: Breakout Performer of the Year, Coach of the Year, Perseverance Award, Relay Performance of the Year, Male Performance of the Year, Female Performance of the Year, Male Athlete of the Year, and Female Athlete of the Year.
USA Swimming announced that Ryan Lochte, Michael Phelps and Jordan Wilimovsky are the nominees for the 2015 Male Athlete of the Year award. This award is given to the top male swimmer of the year with special emphasis on achievements at the 2015 FINA World Championships.
RYAN LOCHTE – Ryan Lochte led the Team USA men with four medals, including three gold, at the 2015 FINA World Championships. Highlighting his performance in Kazan was a victory in the 200m IM, good for his fourth consecutive world title in the event, a feat accomplished just twice in swimming history. He touched in 1:55.81 to take the win. Lochte added gold in the 4x100m mixed free relay and 4x100m medley relay, as well as silver in the 4x200m free relay. He is now second all-time with 27 career FINA World Championships medals, including 18 gold.
MICHAEL PHELPS – Michael Phelps was dominant at the Phillips 66 National Championships in San Antonio, posting world-best times for 2015 in a trio of events – the 100m fly, 200m fly and 200m IM. Equally as impressive was that each swim also cracked the top-eight performances of all-time. Phelps opened the meet with a victory in the 200m fly in 1:52.94, good for the seventh-fastest performance of all-time and his best time in the event since 2009. He followed with a win in the 100m in 50.45, also the seventh-fastest swim in history and his top effort since 2009. In the 200m IM, Phelps was under world-record pace early in the race and touched in 1:54.75, his quickest swim in the event since the 2012 London Olympic Games and the eighth-fastest performance of all-time.
JORDAN WILIMOVSKY – In the grueling two-step Olympic qualification process for open water swimmers, Jordan Wilimovsky was unmatched in 2015. With berths in the Rio Olympic Games on the line at the 2015 FINA World Championships, he was top of the field in the men’s 10-kilometer event, pulling away late to win the world title by 12 seconds and claim a spot on the Team USA roster. Wilimovsky’s victory marked the first world title for an American in the men’s 10K since 2005. He used a similar tactic to win the U.S. national title earlier in the year and claim a spot in the 10K field in Kazan. Wilimovsky then added a victory in the 1500m free at the Phillips 66 National Championships to wrap a remarkable season.
Online voting for the 2015 Golden Goggles awards is open here.
Jordan W…
My pick Lochte. Secret leader at Kazan, didn’t expect him attended so many relay, but he did, and he handle the job very well. The only male swimmer took individual gold from Kazan pool in the USA team.