STANFORD, Calif. -- Buoyed by a thrilling 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio, Stanford women's swimming earned a plethora of nominations -- including a sweep of the Female Athlete of the Year category -- for the 2016 USA Swimming Golden Goggle Awards, set for Monday, Nov. 21, at the Marriott Marquis in New York City.
The nation's top swimmers and coaches are nominated in eight categories for the 13th Annual Golden Goggle Awards, the celebration and fundraising gala honoring the sport's top performances of the year. This year's event, emceed by Rowdy Gaines of NBC Sports, will once again mix swimming stars with celebrities, business leaders and entertainment icons in Times Square. Among them are Stanford swimmers Katie Ledecky and Simone Manuel, former Cardinal standout Maya DiRado, and head coach Greg Meehan.
Stanford swept the Female Athlete of the Year category as the three nominees are DiRado, Ledecky and Manuel. That trio also comprises three of the four nominees for Female Race of the Year. Ledecky is up for her impressive 11-second victory and world record in the 800-meter freestyle in Rio, DiRado was selected for her gold-medal performance in the 200-meter backstroke, while Manuel earned the nod when she became the first African American woman to earn an Olympic medal -- a gold in the 100-meter freestyle.
In all, DiRado and Ledecky each earned three Golden Goggle nominations -- second only to the five nominations for Michael Phelps. Ledecky will look to become the first athlete – male or female – to win Golden Goggles' Athlete of the Year honors in four consecutive years.
Ledecky and DiRado can also earn Golden Goggles for Relay Performance of the Year (800-meter free relay in Rio). Meanwhile, Coach Meehan is one of six nominated for Coach of the Year.
An inspiration to so many.
— Stanford W. Swimming (@stanfordwswim) August 12, 2016
First African-American woman to win #gold for @USASwimming.
Congrats, Simone! pic.twitter.com/XuS4SOBiRg
Golden Goggle Award nominations are based on the year's top accomplishments by U.S. swimmers, focusing primarily on the 2016 Olympic Games. The Americans topped the medal table in Rio de Janeiro with 33 total medals, including 16 gold.
Online fan voting is now open and will continue through Friday, Nov. 11. A percentage of the fan vote will count towards the final ballot.
Proceeds from the Golden Goggle Awards benefit the USA Swimming Foundation, which has the mission to save lives and build champions – in the pool and in life. In addition to its Make a Splash initiative, a national, child-focused water safety campaign that stresses the importance of learning to swim, the USA Swimming Foundation supports the U.S. National Team and its development efforts aim to establish an endowment to strengthen the future of USA Swimming's programs and services.
Full event details, including table and seat purchasing opportunities, can be found at GoldenGoggles.com.
A photo posted by Eric Dolan (@stanfordwswim) on Oct 4, 2016 at 2:10pm PDT