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≡ GOLDEN GOGGLE AWARDS ≡
USA Swimming’s annual gala, the Golden Goggle Awards, was held in Indianapolis on Saturday evening, with Olympic champions Bobby Finke and Torri Huske winning the athlete of the year honors.
Finke, the Tokyo 2020 gold medalist in the men’s 800 m and 1,500 m Freestyles, set a world record in Paris to win the men’s 1,500 m Free, and also won a silver in the men’s 800 m Free. He was also honored as the men’s “Race of the Year” winner for the world record in the 1,500 m Free.
In her second Olympic Games, Huske won five medals in Paris, taking the gold in the 100 m Butterfly, 4×100 m Medley and Mixed 4×100 m Medley, and silvers in the 100 m Freestyle and 4×100 m Freestyle.
Huske’s 100 m Fly gold-medal swim, a 55.59 to 55.63 win over teammate and world-record holder Gretchen Walsh, was honored as the women’s “Race of the Year.”
Her anchor leg on the women’s 4×100 m Medley finished off a world record 3:49.63 victory with Regan Smith, Lilly King, and Walsh, which was recognized as the “Relay Performance of the Year.”
Walsh was the Breakout Performer of the Year, with a world record in the 100 m Fly at the U.S. Trials, and then four medals in Paris: silver in the 100 m Fly, gold on the 4×100 m Medley and the Mixed 4×100 m Medley, and a silver on the 4×100 m Freestyle.
The Perseverance Award was given to Paige Madden, who made her second Olympic team in 2024, taking a bronze medal in the women’s 800 m Freestyle and a silver on the second leg of the women’s 4×200 m Freestyle.
The Fran Crippen Open Water Swimmer of the Year was awarded to 18-year-old Katie Grimes, the first U.S. qualifier for Paris in swimming, and who finished 15th in the Paris 10 km open-water event, best by an American. She won a silver in the pool in the women’s 400 m Medley.
Todd DeSorbo, the women’s Olympic coach and at the University of Virginia, was the Coach of the Year winner, with five swimmers on the U.S. Olympic Team in Paris.
The Alumni Award – new in 2024 – was given to 1984 Olympic triple Freestyle gold medalist and long-time analyst and commentator Rowdy Gaines. He started with NBC with Olympic commentary at Atlanta in 1996, and ever since; he says he will retire after the 2028 Los Angeles Games.
A special thanks was extended to Arlene McDonald of the Indiana University Natatorium in Indianapolis, the meet director for the U.S. Olympic Trials in 2008-12-16-20 and at the record-setting 2024 Olympic Trials at Lucas Oil Stadium. She was honored with the USA Swimming Impact Award.
The USA Swimming Foundation Impact Award was given to Scott and Lorraine Davison, sponsors of learn-to-swim efforts in Indiana. Scott Davison, the Chair of OneAmerica Financial, was a co-Chair of the 2024 Olympic Trials organizing committee.
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