With 2023 coming to a close, USA Swimming summed up this year’s major swimming moments with their 20th Annual Golden Goggle Awards that were held on November 19th. At this event, there were 8 possible categories that swimmers and coaches could be nominated for. These included Breakout Performer, Coach of the Year, Relay Performance of the Year, Female Race of the Year, Male Race of the Year, Female Athlete of the Year, Male Athlete of the Year, Perseverance Award, and Fran Crippen Open Water Swimmer of the Year. These nominations are focused on results from the World Aquatic Championships, and the overall winner in each category is chosen based on a panel and fan votes [1, 2]. This year had tons of great swimmers recognized, however this article will focus on the winners of Breakout Performer, Female Race of the Year, Male Race of the Year, and Female Athlete of the Year.
Starting off strong, here is some insight on Breakout Performer of the Year. According to USA Swimming, “[t]his award is given to the athlete whose performance(s) stand out in relation to other years, with special emphasis on the 2023 World Aquatics Championships”. This year’s nominations included Thomas Heilman, Jack Alexy, Dare Rose, and Katie Grimes. In the end, Jack Alexy was awarded this title [3]. Nominated for his impressive performances at Worlds, Jack Alexy would win this title. Jack is an alumni of GSCY Swim Team and now swims for UC Berkeley. One of the highlights was his Silver Medal finish in the 100 meter Free from lane 8 (one of the slowest lanes in the heat). With this swim, Alexy is now the second fastest American in the event. Jack’s medals extend beyond this event, though. He additionally received medals in the 50 free and 3 relays [4].
Following “Breakout Performer”, is the title of Female Race of the Year. USA Swimming states, “[t]his award is given to the female swimmer with the greatest single individual race of the year, with special emphasis on the 2023 World Aquatic Championships”. This year’s nominations were Kate Douglass in the 200 meter IM, Katie Ledecky in the 1500 meter Free, and Katie Grimes in the open water 10K [1]. The overall winner was Katie Grimes. From Las Vegas, Nevada, Grimes is only 17 years old [5, 6]. She competed at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and was the youngest member on Team USA [5]. Her prized 10k was done in a time of 2:02:42.30 at World Aquatics Swimming Championships. This race earned her a bronze medal and a spot on the 2024 Olympic Team, emphasizing just how impressive Grimes’ performance was [7].
Awarded for the same reasons as the Female Race of the Year, next is the Male Race of the Year. This year’s nominations were Bobby Finke in the 1500 meter free, Jack Alexy in the 100 free, and Ryan Murphy in the 100 back. Finke’s 1500 meter free race took this title this year [1]. Bobby Finke is from Clearwater, Florida, and swam for University of Florida [8,9]. His 1500 race with a time of 14:31.59 got him a silver medal, and he broke the American record by over 5 seconds [10].
Last, but not least, is Female Athlete of the Year. USA Swimming states, “[t]his award is given to the top female swimmer of the year with special emphasis on achievements at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships”. The nominees for this award were Katie Ledecky, Kate Douglass, Regan Smith, and Katie Grimes [1]. This year, Golden Goggle history was made, as there was a tie with Katie Ledecky and Kate Douglass sharing the honor. This was not Ledecky’s first time receiving an honor at the Golden Goggles;she has won the “Female Athlete of the Year” award 9 times! After winning the 1500 meter freestyle for a fifth consecutive time at this year’s World Championships, she is now the first swimmer to have “five titles in two different events” (USA Swimming), the other event being the 800 meter freestyle. As for Kate Douglass, she won six medals at the World Championships, including two gold [11]. Both of these women proved to have exceptional accomplishments this season, showing their worthiness of the given award.
In conclusion, this year had a lot of impressive swims- the Golden Goggle Awards only highlighting a small portion of the best swimmers and races of the year. The insight gained from the Golden Goggle Awards can only foreshadow more great swims to come with Team USA at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
[2] https://www.deseret.com/2011/11/21/20232484/lochte-franklin-win-golden-goggle-awards
[3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Llk9MuUiZEw
[5] https://theathletic.com/5097226/2023/11/30/katie-grimes-olympics-paris-swimming/
[6] https://www.teamusa.com/profiles/katie-grimes
[7] https://www.usaswimming.org/news/2023/10/05/2023-golden-goggles-at-a-glance-female-race-of-the-year
[8] https://www.teamusa.com/profiles/bobby-finke
[9] https://www.teamusa.com/news/bobby-finke-and-kieran-smith-continue-to-improve-each-other
[10]https://www.usaswimming.org/news/2023/10/04/2023-golden-goggles-at-a-glance-male-race-of-the-year