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 the mixed 4×100 freestyle relay, the men’s 4×100 medley relay, and the women’s 4×200 freestyle relay are the nominees for the 2015 Relay Performance Of The Year award. The 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 2015 FINA World Championships.
MIXED 4X100M FREE RELAY – In the debut of mixed relays at the FINA World Championships, Team USA did not disappoint. The mixed 4x100m freestyle relay lineup of Ryan Lochte (48.79), Nathan Adrian (47.29), Simone Manuel (53.66) and Missy Franklin (53.31) came from behind to claim the gold medal in a world-record time of 3:24.51. The Americans trailed various teams throughout the race, all the way through the final five meters, when an amazing final surge from Franklin clinched the victory in Kazan. Adrian and Manuel pulled the U.S. even with Russia on legs two and three to set up Franklin’s blazing finish.
MEN’S 4X100M MEDLEY RELAY – The men’s 4x100m medley relay team capped off the 2015 FINA World Championships with a dramatic victory. The team, consisting of Ryan Murphy (53.05), Kevin Cordes (58.88), Tom Shields (50.59) and Nathan Adrian (47.41), completed a come-from-behind victory and clocked in at 3:29.93, just 15-hundredths of a second in front of Australia. The Americans trailed Great Britain and Australia after the breaststroke leg, but a strong butterfly leg by Shields vaulted the team into the lead at the 300-meter mark. From there, Adrian brought it home, holding off Australia’s Cameron McEvoy in the final 10 meters of the race.
WOMEN’S 4X200M FREE RELAY – Katie Ledecky dominated the final leg of the women’s 4x200m free relay, overcoming a 0.34-second deficit, to lead the American team to a 3-second victory at the 2015 FINA World Championships. Missy Franklin (1:55.95), Leah Smith (1:56.86) and Katie McLaughlin (1:56.92) kept the American squad within striking distance despite strong swims from Sweden over the first three legs of the relay. The Swedish lead was quickly nullified on the anchor, as Ledecky made quick work of the final 200 meters with a 1:55.64 split to secure the gold medal for Team USA.
Online voting for the 2015 Golden Goggles awards is open here.