Golden Goggles Ballot: Which Star Captures Female Swimmer of the Year? (Part 2)
In an 18-medal performance by the U.S. women’s swim team at the Paris Olympics, five individuals stood above the rest as the driving forces. One is the consensus greatest female swimmer ever, who added to her historical ledger, while the rest are in their early 20s, each racing at their first or second Olympics. Two of them won multiple individual medals while winning one individual gold apiece while the other two set individual world records this year before posting strong swims at the Games as well.
Which one will be named Female Athlete of the Year at USA Swimming’s annual Golden Goggle awards in November? That might be the most competitive award handed out this year. Remember to also check out part one of Swimming World’s ballot.
Relay Performance of the Year
Nominees: Men’s 400 Freestyle Relay, Mixed 400 Medley Relay, Women’s 400 Medley Relay (all at Paris Olympics)
Three excellent options here, all gold-medal winners in Paris. The American men won their third consecutive gold in the 400 free relay on night one, with Olympic rookies Jack Alexy and Chris Guiliano leading into a first-time swimmer on this relay, Hunter Armstrong, and then a veteran handling anchor duties for the first time after leading off two gold-medal-winning relays and three world-title-clinching squads. That was Caeleb Dressel, whose lone appearance atop the medal stand in Paris came in this race.
The women’s medley was a show of dominance, with world-record holders Regan Smith, Lilly King and Gretchen Walsh handing anchor swimmer Torri Huske a lead greater than three seconds, and the team delivered the first-ever sub-3:50 performance.
But we will pick the mixed medley relay because each of the four American swimmers, Ryan Murphy, Nic Fink, Walsh and Huske, had to be perfect to produce a gold medal, and they were. Murphy responded from a crushing swim in the 200 back, in which he finished outside the final. Fink held pace with China’s Qin Haiyang before Walsh took the lead and a gritty finish from Huske got her to the wall 12-hundredths ahead of China.
Perseverance Award
Simone Manuel — Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
Nominees: Caeleb Dressel, Paige Madden, Simone Manuel, Emma Weyant
In this category, we have four returning Olympians who achieved success this year after significant struggles since the Tokyo Games. Dressel’s health struggles were highly publicized, and his initial comeback to the sport left him nowhere close to the Worlds roster in 2023. He came back to win two events at Olympic Trials, and although he struggled in his individual races his Paris, he came away with three relay medals.
Manuel, meanwhile, took an extended break from the sport after Overtraining Syndrome comprised her swimming in the leadup to Tokyo. In 2024, she swam her best times in five years while qualifying for the Olympics in the 50 free and for relay duty, and she emerged with two silver medals.
Madden battled through health issues to make it back to the Olympic level in 2024 and shine, crushing her best time to win individual bronze in the 800 free. As for Weyant, her struggled were not health-related; instead, a controversial disqualification in her signature event prevented her from competing for a spot on the Worlds team last year, but in 2024, she returned to the international level in the 400 IM and won a medal for her second consecutive Olympics.
This is another tough category to pick. Madden does not have the notoriety of the others on this list, but her individual medal was almost impossible to predict one year out, when it looked like her international career might be over. But this should be Manuel’s award to lose. Her emotional comeback story, which included a win in the 50 free at the Olympic Trials, added another superb chapter to her Hall-of-Fame career.
Male Athlete of the Year
Nominees: Nic Fink, Bobby Finke, Ryan Murphy
It would be a huge upset if Finke did not win this award. He was the only American man to win multiple individual medals in Paris, and in the final individual race of the Games, he won gold in dramatic, world-record-setting fashion in the 1500 free. The Tokyo Games established his legend with a pair of come-from-behind wins, but Paris put Finke into consideration as one of the all-time distance greats as he snared Sun Yang’s long-standing global mark.
Female Athlete of the Year
Nominees: Kate Douglass, Torri Huske, Katie Ledecky, Regan Smith, Gretchen Walsh
Douglass out-dueled Tatjana (Schoenmaker) Smith for Olympic gold in the 200 breast, which was our choice for Female Race of the Year, and she won three other medals in Paris. Smith captured five medals, including three individual silvers, and she lowered her first individual world record in five years. Walsh’s breakthrough year brought her Olympic silver in the 100 fly along with a world record in the event, and she played a key role in three relay medals.
But this one feels like it comes down to either Huske or Ledecky. Huske won five medals in Paris, including gold in the 100 fly and silver in the 100 free, and her relay splits were absolutely vital on three different occasions. Ledecky added to her own legend with a fourth consecutive gold medal in the 800 free, using a masterful performance to take down Australian rival Ariarne Titmus, and she also crushed the field in the 1500 free, won 800 free relay silver and 400 free bronze.
Both deserving winners here, but our choice here, based on her all-around meet that elevated the U.S. in so many events, is Huske.