The Big Four of Katie Ledecky, Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte and Missy Franklin are all nominated for USA Swimming’s Golden Goggle Athlete of the Year awards.
Ledecky and Lochte were the only U.S. swimmers to win individual World Championships in the pool in August.
Ledecky and Phelps, who missed Worlds as part of his punishment for last September’s DUI arrest, were the only U.S. swimmers to post world-leading times in Olympic events, for a second straight year.
Franklin and Ledecky were two of the three swimmers overall to earn five medals at the World Championships.
That quartet was joined in Male and Female Athlete of the Year nominations by World champions in open-water swimming — Olympians Haley Anderson and Jordan Wilimovsky.
Ledecky and Phelps won the 2014 Athlete of the Year awards. Ledecky, Phelps, Lochte and Franklin have combined to win every Male and Female Athlete of the Year award since 2011. The last man other than Phelps or Lochte to win was Brendan Hansen in 2006.
Online Golden Goggles voting is available here through Nov. 13. A percentage of the fan vote will count toward the final balloting. The Golden Goggle Awards are Nov. 22 in Los Angeles.
The full nominees:
Breakout Performer of the Year
Katie Meili — Pan American Games and Nationals champion in 100m breaststroke; ranked No. 3 in the world in 2015.
Jordan Wilimovsky — First career U.S. titles (open-water 10km, 1500m freestyle) and World title (open-water 10km) to make first Olympic team.
Kelsi Worrell — NCAA, Pan American Games and Nationals champion in 100 butterfly; ranked No. 3 int he world in 2015.
Perseverance Award
Kevin Cordes — Worlds silver in 200m breaststroke, bronze in 50m breaststroke, two relay medals after DQs at 2013 Worlds, 2014 Pan Pacific Championships.
Connor Jaeger — Won Worlds 1500m freestyle silver in an American record after fourth-place finishes in 400m and 800m frees.
Allison Schmitt — Won 200m free at Pan American Games, U.S. Championships, opened up about battle with depression after missing 2013, 2015 World Championships teams.
Coach of the Year
Bob Bowman — Star pupil: Michael Phelps
Bruce Gemmell — Star pupil: Katie Ledecky
Dave Kelsheimer — Star pupil: Jordan Wilimovsky
David Marsh — Star pupil: Ryan Lochte
Catherine Vogt — Star pupil: Haley Anderson
Relay Performance of the Year (all World Championships finals)
Men’s 4x100m Medley Relay — U.S. wins by .15 of a second over Australia.
Women’s 4x200m Freestyle Relay — U.S. wins by 3.04 seconds over Italy.
Mixed 4x100m Freestyle Relay — U.S. wins in world-record time by .05 over Netherlands.
Female Race of the Year (all World Championships finals)
Haley Anderson’s open-water 5km — Gold by 1.4 seconds.
Katie Ledecky’s 200m free – Gold by .16 of a second in come-from-behind fashion.
Katie Ledecky’s 800m free – Gold in world-record time, lowering her mark by 3.61 seconds and winning by 10.26 seconds.
Katie Ledecky’s 1500m free — Gold in world-record time, lowering her mark by 2.33 seconds and winning by 14.66 seconds.
Male Race of the Year
Connor Jaeger’s Worlds 1500m freestyle — Silver in an American record time.
Ryan Lochte’s Worlds 200m individual medley — Gold for fourth straight World title.
Michael Phelps’ Nationals 100m butterfly — Fastest time in the world since 2009.
Michael Phelps’ Nationals 200m butterfly — Fastest time in the world since 2009.
Jordan Wilimovsky’s Worlds open-water 10km — Gold by 12.1 seconds.
Female Athlete of the Year
Haley Anderson — World champion, open-water 5km.
Missy Franklin — World silver medalist, 200m back. World bronze medalist, 200m free. Three Worlds relay medals.
Katie Ledecky — World champion, 200m, 400m, 800m, 1500m freestyles. One Worlds relay gold medal.
Male Athlete of the Year
Ryan Lochte — World champion, 200m individual medley. Three Worlds relay medals.
Michael Phelps — World’s fastest swimmer in 2015 in 100m, 200m butterflies.
Jordan Wilimovsky — World champion, open-water 10km.
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