Golden Goggle Awards: USA Swimming Announces Nominees for 2024

USA Swimming has announced the finalists for the 2024 Golden Goggle Awards.

The award ceremony will take place Nov. 23 in Indianapolis. Torri Huske and Gretchen Walsh lead the field with four nominations based on their performances during the Paris Olympics.

Fan voting is open now through October 17 at 11:59 p.m. MT.

VOTE HERE

2024 Golden Goggle Awards Nominees

GOLDEN GOGGLE AWARDS: BREAKOUT PERFORMER

This award is given to the athlete whose performance(s) stand out in relation to other years, with special emphasis on the 2024 Olympic Games.

Luke Hobson
Aaron Shackell
Alex Shackell
Gretchen Walsh

Luke Hobson: Hobson won an individual bronze via his 1:44.79 in the 200m freestyle, making him the youngest swimmer since Michael Phelps in 2004 – and second-youngest since 1984 – to medal in the event. His performance in Paris made him the fourth-fastest American in event history. He also won silver as part of the men’s 4x200m freestyle relay.

Aaron Shackell: The 19-year-old from Carmel Swim Club became the first swimmer at Olympic Trials to punch his ticket to Paris via his first-place finish in the 400-meter freestyle. He finished eighth in Paris, making him just the eighth teenager to represent the U.S. in the event’s 116-year history.

Alex Shackell: At 17 years old, Shackell became the fifth-youngest American in history to swim the 200m butterfly at the Olympic Games. She made finals at the Olympic Games in her individual event, finishing sixth with 2:07.73, and went on to bring home gold via a prelim swim in the 4x100m medley relay and a silver medal via a prelim swim in the 4x200m freestyle relay.

Gretchen Walsh: Walsh burst onto the scene this summer with a world-record showing in the 100-meter butterfly, going 55.18 in the event’s semifinals at Trials. In her Olympic debut, Walsh went on to swim three individual events and three relay events, leading to four medals and two additional world records as part of the women’s and mixed 4×100 medley relays.

GOLDEN GOGGLE AWARDS: 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 2024 Olympic Games.

Bob Bowman
Todd DeSorbo
Greg Meehan
Anthony Nesty

Bob Bowman: Six American swimmers who trained under Bowman qualified for the U.S. Olympic Team. Led by Regan Smith’s five medals, Bowman’s American swimmers brought 11 medals to their home countries.

Todd DeSorbo: DeSorbo, the women’s team head coach and head coach at the University of Virginia, had four swimmers qualify for the Olympic Team. The quartet of Kate Douglass, Alex Walsh, Gretchen Walsh, and Emma Weber combined for nine medals.

Greg Meehan: Meehan, an assistant coach in Paris and head coach at Stanford, helped Torri Huske to her five-medal showing in Paris, which was tied for the most by an American swimmer in Paris. Huske delivered the first individual gold for the U.S. via her performance in the 100-meter butterfly and was a part of world records in the women’s and mixed 4x100m medley teams.

Anthony Nesty: Nesty,the men’s head coach and head coach at the University of Florida, had five Gator Swim Club swimmers made the U.S. Olympic Team – more than any other program represented on the Paris roster. All five Florida athletes came away with at least one medal, while Katie Ledecky, Bobby Finke, and Emma Weyant individually medaled, along with a world record from Finke in the 1500m freestyle.

GOLDEN GOGGLE AWARDS: FEMALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR

This award is given to the top female swimmer of the year with special emphasis on achievements at the 2024 Olympic Games.

Kate Douglass
Torri Huske
Katie Ledecky
Regan Smith
Gretchen Walsh

Kate Douglass: The versatility of Douglass was once again on display, as she captured gold in the 200m breaststroke (in an American-Record time of 2:19.24), silver in the 200m IM, silver in the 4x100m freestyle relay (also in an American record time), and gold in the 4x100m medley relay, where she swam the freestyle leg in prelims. With her 200m breaststroke time, Douglass now owns three of the top-10 fastest performances in event history.

Torri Huske: Huske left Paris as the most decorated American swimmer, earning five medals (three gold, two silver) and participating in two World-Record setting relay teams. This performance made her one of only nine American female swimmers to ever tally five total medals at a single Olympiad.

Katie Ledecky: Ledecky’s legendary status grew with her four-medal (two gold, one silver, one bronze) showing in Paris. Her gold medals in the 800m and 1500m freestyle events came in typical Ledecky fashion, clocking top-20 times in event history with an 8:11.04 (14th-fastest 800m freestyle ever) and a 15:30.02 (eighth-fastest 1500m freestyle ever).

Regan Smith: Smith, like Huske, joined the elite list of athletes to capture five medals at a single Olympiad. The tally tied her for second on the list of total medalists, across all sports who competed in Paris. Along with her three individual medals (100m backstroke silver, 200m backstroke silver, 200m butterfly silver), Smith led off the U.S.’ World-Record setting 4x100m mixed medley relay with a 57.28 backstroke split, which was good for an Olympic record.

Gretchen Walsh: In her Olympic debut, Walsh collected four medals via gold in the 4x100m medley relay and 4x100m mixed medley relay and silver in the 100m butterfly and 4x100m freestyle relay. Her final race in Paris was the 4x100m medley relay, where she helped the U.S. to gold and a World Record with her butterfly split of 55.03, which is tied for the fastest butterfly split in history.

FEMALE RACE OF THE YEAR

This award is given to the female swimmer with the greatest single individual race of the year, with special emphasis on the 2024 Olympic Games.

Kate Douglass, 200m breaststroke
Torri Huske, 100m butterfly
Katie Ledecky, 1500m freestyle

Kate Douglass, 200 breast: Douglass won 200m breaststroke gold in dominant fashion, going 2:19.24 to set a new American Record and win the event by 0.4 seconds. She is now the fourth American woman in history to win Olympic gold in the event, while the time is good for the sixth-fastest swim in history.

Torri Huske, 100 fly: Huske’s back-half surge in the women’s 100m butterfly captured the first individual gold for the United States in Paris. The medal was Huske’s first individual Olympic medal of her career, and it made her just the second American since 2000 to win individual gold in the event.

Katie Ledecky, 1500 free: Ledecky once again showed her dominance in the 1500m freestyle, going 15:30.02 to win her second Olympic gold in the event. She finished 10 seconds ahead of the field, and her time was good for an Olympic record, knocking 7.32 seconds off her record-setting swim from Tokyo.

FRAN CRIPPEN OPEN WATER SWIMMER OF THE YEAR

This award is given to the athlete who had the most outstanding year as an open water swimmer, with an emphasis on the 2024 Olympic Games.

Mariah Denigan
Katie Grimes
Ivan Puskovitch

Mariah Denigan: Making her Olympic debut, Denigan finished 16th in the Paris 10K. Her swim made her the sixth American woman to contest the event at the Olympics. Denigan also finished sixth in the Doha 10K.

Katie Grimes: Grimes made history by becoming the first female swimmer in U.S. history to swim a pool and open-water event at the same Olympics. She posted a 15th-place finish in the 10K at both the Paris Olympic Games and the 2024 World Aquatics Open Water Championships, which took place in Doha in February.

Ivan Puskovitch: After qualifying for Paris with a 14th-place finish in the Doha 10K, Puskovitch battled the Seine River to a 19th-place finish, making him just the fifth American male in history to swim the event at the Olympic Games.

GOLDEN GOGGLE AWARDS: MALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR

This award is given to the top male swimmer of the year with special emphasis on achievements at the 2024 Olympic Games.

Nic Fink
Bobby Finke
Ryan Murphy

Nic Fink: Fink left Paris with three medals: gold (and a World Record) in the mixed 4x100m medley relay, silver in the 4x100m medley relay, and a tie for silver in the 100m breaststroke. His silver in the 100m breaststroke made him the 10th American in Olympic history to medal in the event.

Bobby Finke: Finke captured the lone individual gold for the American men when he went 14:30.67 in the 1500m freestyle, topping the podium in a new World-Record time. Finke fended off the 800m freestyle gold medalist in Daniel Wiffen and the 2016 Olympic gold medalist in Gregorio Paltrinieri from start to finish, getting the American his second-consecutive Olympic gold in the event.

Ryan Murphy: Murphy captured gold (and a World Record) in the 4x100m mixed medley relay, silver in the 4x100m medley relay, and bronze in the 100m backstroke. With his individual bronze, Murphy joined Roland Matthes as the only swimmer in history with three Olympic medals in the 100m backstroke.

MALE RACE OF THE YEAR

This award is given to the male swimmer with the greatest single individual race of the year, with special emphasis on the 2024 Olympic Games.

Nic Fink, 100m breaststroke
Bobby Finke, 1500m freestyle
Luke Hobson, 200m freestyle

Nic Fink, 100 breast: Fink tied for silver after a highly-contested battle which left just 0.08 seconds separating a gold medal from fourth place. Finke’s silver marked his first individual Olympic medal of his career and made the 31-year-old the oldest Olympic medalist in the event’s history.

Bobby Finke, 1500 free: Finke, who is known for his closing speed, took the 1500m freestyle race out early in Paris, grabbing the lead by the 100-meter mark and holding throughout before finishing in a gold-medal and world-record time of 14:30.67. The swim made him the first swimmer to ever go sub-14:31 in the event and shaved nearly a full second off his previous personal best and American Record.

Luke Hobson, 200 free: Hobson proved he was among the world’s best when his 1:44.79 earned a bronze medal in a highly-contested 200m freestyle. His bronze made him just the fourth American to medal in the event since 1992.

GOLDEN GOGGLE AWARDS: PERSEVERANCE AWARD

This award is given to the athlete who came back from adversity, retirement, sickness, injury, etc., to have an outstanding performance(s) in 2024, with special emphasis on the 2024 Olympic Games.

Caeleb Dressel
Paige Madden
Simone Manuel
Emma Weyant

Caeleb Dressel: After withdrawing from the 2022 World Aquatics Championships and taking time away from the pool, Dressel returned to national competition in 2023. Amidst his training, he became a father in February 2024, just a few months before qualifying for his third Olympic Team. In Paris, Dressel won three medals, making the sixth American male swimmer to win at least 10 Olympic medals in a career.

Paige Madden: In 2022, Madden missed the World Championships team, ultimately leading to her taking the summer off swimming to focus on regaining her passion for the sport. She came back to the international scene at the 2023 Pan American Games, winning four medals, and would then go on to qualify for the Paris Olympic Team. In Paris, she dropped 7.71 seconds off her personal best in the 800m freestyle to win bronze.

Simone Manuel: In 2021, Manuel candidly opened up about being diagnosed with Overtraining Syndrome, which threw a wrench into her swimming regimen leading up to the Tokyo Olympics. She took time away from the pool before moving to the Sun Devil Swimming group in 2022, where she trained during the lead-up to Paris. She qualified for the 2024 Olympic Games, marking her first international team since Tokyo, and swam in the final of the silver-medal winning 4x100m freestyle relay team and in the prelims of the silver-medal winning 4x200m freestyle relay team.

Emma Weyant: Weyant was left off the 2023 World Championships team due to a disqualification in the 400m IM prelims at the qualifying meet. She bounced back in 2024, qualifying for her second U.S. Olympic Team and winning bronze in the 400m IM in a time of 4:34.93.

GOLDEN GOGGLE AWARDS: RELAY PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR

This award is given to the best team relay performance, male or female. The performance considered must be a finals performance, with special emphasis on the 2024 Olympic Games.

Men’s 4x100m freestyle relay
Mixed 4x100m medley relay
Women’s 4x100m medley relay

Men’s 4×100 free relay: The men’s 4×100-meter freestyle relay brought home the first gold medal for Team USA, across all sports, at the Paris Olympic Games. The quartet of Jack Alexy, Chris Guiliano, Hunter Armstrong, and Caeleb Dressel clocked a 3:09.28, thanks largely in part to Armstrong’s 46.75 split on the third leg. The first-place finish marked the third-consecutive Olympic gold for the U.S. in the event. The relay also featured prelims swims from Ryan Held and Matt King.

Mixed 4×100 medley relay: Ryan Murphy, Nic Fink, Gretchen Walsh, and Torri Huske combined for the fastest mixed medley relay in history with their 3:37.43 performance. Walsh’s split was roughly 0.5 seconds faster than any other female butterfly split, helping the team shave .15 seconds off the previous world record. The relay also featured prelims swims from Regan Smith, Charlie Swanson, Caeleb Dressel, and Abbey Weitzeil.

Women’s 4×100 medley relay: The women’s 4×100-meter medley relay won gold in dominant fashion, clocking a world record time of 3:49.63 and winning the race by nearly 3.5 seconds. The team was kickstarted by Regan Smith going an Olympic-record time of 57.28 in her backstroke split, followed by Lilly King (1:04.90), Gretchen Walsh (55.03), and Torri Huske (52.42), who added to the momentum to bring home gold. The relay also featured prelims swims from Katharine Berkoff, Emma Weber, Alex Shackell, and Kate Douglass.

Proceeds from the Golden Goggle Awards benefit the USA Swimming Foundation, whose mission is to Save Lives, Build Champions, and Impact Communities. In addition to providing learn-to-swim grants and community impact grants to programs across the country, the USA Swimming Foundation supports the U.S. National Team and its development efforts aimed at strengthening the future of USA Swimming’s programs and services.

Tickets are on sale now for this year’s Golden Goggle Awards. For questions or to purchase tickets or a table, please contact Foundation@usaswimming.org.

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