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| Olympian Rebecca Soni accepting the Female Athlete of the Year award at the 2010 Golden Goggle Awards. |
USA Swimming will be hosting its 8th annual Golden Goggle Awards on Nov. 20 at the JW Marriott Los Angeles at L.A. Live. The event is organized to honor the achievements of the world championship team that competed this summer in Shanghai and also serves as a fundraiser for the USA Swimming Foundation.
The Golden Goggle Awards recognize the national team’s best performances and give an opportunity to the swimming community and swimming fans to vote for their favorites. Mariah Cunnick, Director of Development at USA Swimming, talked about the importance of the Golden Goggles to the swimming community “It’s huge,” she said, “ It's really our only centerpiece event focusing entirely on our athletes.”
Ryan Lochte, Michael Phelps and Missy Franklin lead the nominations with four a piece. Phelps and Lochte are both nominees for Male Athlete of the Year and they along with Ricky Berens and Peter Vanderkaay make up the gold winning 4x200 Freestyle Relay team, which is nominated for Best Relay Performance of the Year.
Lochte has two nominations for Male Race of the Year. The first for his world-record-breaking performance in the 200 Individual Medley and the second for the 200 Freestyle. Phelps also holds a nomination in that category for the 200 Butterfly. Phelps shares a nomination for Best Relay Performance with Nick Thoman, Nathan Adrian and Mark Gangloff for the 4x100 Medley Relay.
Missy Franklin leads the nominations on the women’s side with a nomination for Best Female Athlete of the Year, Female Race of the Year and two nominations for Best Relay Performance of the Year. She shares one of her relay nominations with the 4x100 Medley Relay team, which includes: Natalie Coughlin, Rebecca Soni and Dana Vollmer. She shares the other with Dagny Knutson, Katie Hoff and Allison Schmitt for their performance in the 4x200 Freestyle Relay.
This year, USA Swimming will be adding a silent auction to the event. The proceeds of the auction will be benefiting their foundation. “We were looking for ways to maximize the potential of the event without risking the integrity of the event,” Cunnick said.
The auction will feature 35 items which include living the life of a national teamer for three days at the U.S. Olympic Training Center, being a “basket kid” at the U.S. Olympic Trials next summer, being an honorary team captain at the 2011 Mutual of Omaha Duel in the Pool, a swim lesson and lunch with Olympian Natalie Coughlin, along with many other items.
The silent auction will take place during the reception hour, but there is a way that those who will not be attending that night can get into the action. USA Swimming will be opening an online auction on Nov. 7 that will run through Nov. 19 at 11:59 p.m. The online auction will feature 12 of the premier items being offered at the Golden Google Awards.
Actor and comedian Kevin Nealon will be hosting the event. Cunnick says the swimming community is extremely excited about the host for this year. The theme of the night will be Rock & Roll and Beatles tribute band “The Return” will be contributing to that atmosphere.
The Golden Goggle Awards began in 2004, “They’re a great way for the swimming community to connect with one another and get together to celebrate our athletes, “ Cunnick said. The Golden Goggles alternate coasts each year and will be held in New York next year.
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