Maryland's Katie Ledecky Wins Athlete Of The Year At Golden Goggle Awards
MIAMI (AP) — Caeleb Dressel and Katie Ledecky were honored as male and female athletes of the year at USA Swimming's annual Golden Goggle awards on Tuesday night.
Dressel repeated as athlete of the year after earning gold medals in the 50-meter freestyle, 100 free, and 100 butterfly at the Tokyo Olympics. He also was a key member of the winning men's 4x100 free and 4x100 medley relays, becoming just the fourth American male swimmer to win five golds at a single games.
Ledecky earned two gold and two silver medals in Tokyo to become the most decorated female individual gold medalist in Olympic history. She won the 800 free and inaugural 1,500 free, finished second in the 400 free, and anchored the 4x200 free relay to a silver.
Lydia Jacoby earned two awards for breakout performer and female race of the year. She won the 100 breaststroke in an upset over defending Olympic champion Lilly King. She also helped the U.S. to a silver in the 4x100 medley relay. The 17-year-old was the first swimmer from Alaska to make a U.S. Olympic team.
Other winners were Bobby Finke for male race of the year; Dressel, Zach Apple, Michael Andrew and Ryan Murphy for relay performance of the year; Annie Lazor for the perseverance award; and Gregg Troy as coach of the year. He coached Dressel through the Olympics before the swimmer switched to Anthony Nesty.
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