Brendan Hansen Online: Golden Goggle Nominees Announced

Thursday, October 12, 2006

Golden Goggle Nominees Announced

USA Swimming has named their nominees for the Golden Goggles Awards to be held in Beverly Hills this year on Sunday, November 19th.

For Male Athlete of the Year, Phelps will face stiff competition from Olympians Brendan Hansen (Havertown, Pa. / Longhorn) and Aaron Peirsol (Irvine, Calif. / Longhorn). All three athletes set world records this summer at the 2006 Mutual of Omaha Pan Pacific Championships.

Male Performance of the Year:
Aaron Peirsol for the 200m Backstroke at Pan Pacifics
Brendan Hansen for the 200m Breaststroke at Pan Pacifics
Michael Phelps for the 200m Butterfly at Pan Pacifics
Michael Phelps for the 200m IM at Pan Pacifics

Male Athlete of the Year:
Brendan Hansen
Aaron Peirsol
Michael Phelps

I really like the category of Perseverance Award this year. I know why each for them were chosen. And I am thrilled for all of the nominees this year.

Perseverance Award:
Megan Jendrick
Hayley Peirsol
Erik Vendt

And Guess what else? YOU GET TO VOTE!
And there is a list of the presenters Here. The great Shirley Babashoff is on the list! That is exciting. Thanks to Terrie and Aims for some of these links.

Maybe some of us will get to go watch the red carpet parade? Any takers?

23 Comments:

Brendan better get get Male Athlete of the Year,darn it. That's all I've got to say about that. ;)

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that there is a threeway tie for the Perseverance award. They are all so deserving but of course I have a soft spot for Erik. Then again Haley rocked at Nationals and Pan Pacs. Megan has made such an incredible come back so I'm completely torn. Decisions....

By blairbecky, at 10/12/2006 9:52 AM
I would love to see Eric get the perservance award as well. Coming back after such a short time in the water like that is really something.

I have to say I am very dissappointed as to how they wrote up the bios after the athletes names. It is as if they did it in a way to sway the voters.

Politics is everywhere! hahaha

By Mrs. H, at 10/12/2006 12:36 PM
I agree. I want Erik to win Perseverence, although the other two are great choices, I think what Erik has done is pretty amazing..that and I just love the boy.

Mrs H- I definitely get what you mean about the little blurbs for the voting thing. They do seem to pick and choose details to put in that might sway someones vote one way or the other. Its amazing what a couple of words can do to your reaction. I know, for example, when I was voting for female athlete of the year, the fact that both Natalie and Katie had won it before, but Kate hadn't, definitely made me want to vote Kate..thats just a little example, but yeah I understand.

Unfortunately politics can't be avoided. :\ I just hope that in the end the right person wins..and by that I mean...Brendan should win Male Athlete of the Year. :)

By Sarah, at 10/12/2006 1:36 PM
I'm working on the red carpet part, Michelle :)

Lots of tough catagories this year. I'd love to see Brendan win for both of the catagories he's in.

By Teagan35, at 10/12/2006 3:38 PM
Oops. I mean, lala. I didn't see who posted that at first. *blushes*

By Teagan35, at 10/12/2006 4:12 PM
I agree Blair, Brendan so deserves male athlete of the year--I'm on my way to vote right now! :)

By _cesca_, at 10/12/2006 6:12 PM
Okay girls....this is completely off topic...well maybe not completely.

ANYways, my friend works at the Rollingwood pool here in Austin where Brendan did a clinic tonight. Trent (my friend) was guarding, and he knocks on my door with an autograph from him! I was a little excited! haha.

Ooo, and girls, he said that B Hansen has a g/f. :( Confirmation???? jk..i know it's not my business.

I hope everyone is doing well and school is treating you right!

-Gina

p.s.- I can't WAIT for the swim meets to start back up. HOOK 'EM.

By Gina, at 10/12/2006 9:57 PM
Congrats on that autograph Gina! How nice of your friend to get that for you!

Yeah those bios are pretty selective with their descriptions. And I find it interesting that Coach Bowman is getting credit for seven Wolverines on the Pan Pacs Team. Three of those seven had only been Wolverines for a few months prior to trials. Two of which are Olympians and the third had already swum on a national team. So I think Eddie Reese still has the best record.

Not only are the bios off, but I can't believe that Ryan Lochte's coach was nominated and he was not. Correct me if I am wrong, but didn't Ryan break a couple of world records at Short Course World Championships in Shanghai? They list the accomplishments of Ryan's under his coaches nomination, but not a word of his world records. That's just weird.

By lala, at 10/13/2006 3:35 AM
Can anyone guess who I am voting for Male Athlete???? Here is a question regarding the Perseverance Award....and this is not a personal thing, but why would you vote for Erik? Didn't he stop swimming for over a year? How can that be perseverance? I always thought that staying with something (the sport)through a trying/difficult times and not giving up would be key here. Erik stopped....for whatever reason, then returned....did great... but I dont think it warrants an award. Now there is something for you ladies to debate.

By Aunt K, at 10/13/2006 6:46 AM
Let's hope Brendan wins Male Athlete of the Year. He really deserves it after all the hard work and incredible accomplishments he's done recently.
Keep your fingers crossed and you know the drill: vote vote vote!!!

By Lena, at 10/13/2006 10:07 AM
Hahahaha Lena after all these years you still have it in you don't you!

Remember the vote, cookies erase, vote again. Too funny!

You should be Bren's campaign manager.

By Mrs. H, at 10/13/2006 11:13 AM
Aunt K,it comes down to the fact that I'm a sucker for a cute boy. That is why I say my heart says Erik but I was really impressed with Haley. I haven't voted yet so I haven't completely made up my mind.

Lala,I totally agree about Bowman. Can he really take credit for the accomplishments of swimmers he has only trained for a little bit? I could be wrong because I'm not a competitive swimmer myself and I've never had a coach. Bob has Mikey but other than that he has yet to truly impress me.

By blairbecky, at 10/13/2006 1:04 PM
Heck, for perseverence, I wish I could vote for Neil Walker. Now THAT is perseverence, every morning, every month, every season, every year, like a clock, and unquestionably elite at 30. Where's the write-in category?

I would vote for Erik to win the "Training Pitbull Award."

I would vote for Larsen as the "Best Representation Of What California Almonds Can Do For You Award."

I like Mrs. H for the "My Son Breaks World Records Like Eggshells, But I Still Keep Him Humble Award."

I think Michelle has "Fan Site of the Year" in the bag. Lala can accept on her behalf from Beverly Hills.

D

P.S. How peeved are we that it's not at Hammerstein Ballroom this year. I would've broken out my sparkly dress to be Lohner's date.

By Dana Cara, at 10/13/2006 2:23 PM
Lala, Congratulations on the great job you are doing with the web site. Your knowledge of swimming is bound to rub off on those who come on the blog. It is great that you stepped right in and picked up without any hesitation. Keep up the good work. We look forward to going online everyday. Keep up your teaching in Swimming 101.

gpop and gmom

By gmom, at 10/13/2006 3:55 PM
I have to once again respond. I can't help myself.

Dana, once again we are at odds. You know how much I love Neil. He has been a good friend to Brendan for years. I would love to see him win an award but this year, at this time, I believe it is not his. After all he was getting paid for all the things he was doing. Let us not forget that. Although, right now, he is not. Anything from here on out could puts him in the awards catagory. Unfortuately, for Neil, he has to start winning the "BIG" ones, in the eyes of the wonderful people who nominate the athletes. It is all about Firsts and Gold and World Records. In fact, that is what Brendan said when he accepted his last award. It has to take three WR to get nominated. Crazy!

Eric won his event at Nationals (the first) after only training since January. I encourage all of you to go back and read his 20 questions. You will soon realize why we believe he deserves the perservance award. Maybe Lauren will post it for you guys. Too long to go into, but extremely informative.

Hope this helps, Kathy.

By Mrs. H, at 10/14/2006 7:51 AM
I guess it comes down to how we define "perseverence" ... is it more physical, more emotional, more mental? Should we be rewarding people who stick with it for a long time - or should we reward people who come back from a huge obstacle - or should we reward people who bounce right back to the elite from an emotionally draining meet or a short retirement? I think an argument could be made for any of those ... and everyone mentioned on this thread would probably qualify in one way or another.

It's no secret that I adore Erik, btw. He has the most stunningly sadistic, hard-core self-discipline. And he came back from retirement in Downtown NYC, where the local pools are ... how do I put this ... they make the swamps next to the meadowlands look like Long Beach. :)

I like how we occasionally disagree! It makes for very festive discussion, even more at home, because John usually agrees with YOU :) ...
(smart man)
D

By Dana Cara, at 10/14/2006 1:13 PM
I love that this site has thoughtful conversations about swimming awards. So cool.

I have to hop in Dana and Aunt K's corners here. I think Erik is a star, and I love his comeback, but I don't know that I'd categorize it as perserverence. I agree that Neil should be in this one, and win. He's perservered, what, 7 years longer than any of them, and he was part of a WR this summer. But, it's a great category, with all deserving nominees.

How do you leave Ryan Lochte off the Male Athlete nominee list? Ryan set just about every SC record out there, meters and yards, and he's closing in on several LC ones. Not to mention, he was on his game for the whole year, not just the summer, and he's the only guy out there who can now challenge both Peirsol and Phelps and match Phelps' versatility. It really is Ryan's year to win this thing, if you look at total accomplishments. But Bren wins race of the year, hands down. Nothing else even touches that.

On a separate note, if any male athletes need a date, I will gladly make my way to Beverly Hills. ;-)

By crackinup, at 10/15/2006 4:31 AM
OK, Crackinup, you have convinced me completely with your speech on Ry Ry. I TOTALLY agree with you and Dana now. Neil should win persererance, although I cannot vote for him, sorry.

You are soooo right about Ryan and how overlooked he has become. Why you ask? Hmmmmm, I wonder????? Could it be because he happens to be swimming against our favorite prize child. I am so bad. Lauren if you want to start banning me from comments it will be ok with me.

By the way,Terri, you are the smartest women in the world! hahhha

By Mrs. H, at 10/15/2006 8:07 AM
All I can say about Ryan is...the nominations committee have incredibly short memories. Ryan had an amazing short course season but they seem to only remember what happened at Nationals and Pan Pacs. I guess if you don't win there, it doesn't count? Anyway, he should be in there.

Neil for perserverance - I totally agree with this one. Hayley is still so young - as much as I love her, what exactly qualifies her for this particular award? I guess I associate perserverance with longevity and it seems like they just wanted to reward her with something for an amazing swim so they threw her in there. You're all welcome to disagree with me :p - I voted for her anyway because I <3 her.

Male Athlete and Performance of the Year...not sure about those yet. ;)

By Michelle, at 10/15/2006 8:37 PM
Thanks for the sweet words gmom!
I am having fun with this debate! When listing Ryan's year, I didnt even mention what he did at NCAA Championships. Correct me if I am wrong, but didn't he break a couple of records there too?

Back to Erik Vendt though.. He had not been training for the 1500M free at Nationals. And he went and won the title. That was what amazed me. I know Larsen was coming of an injury, but for Erik to beat him there still showed a lot of heart to me. I can't wait to see those two duel it out at worlds with Larsen on his game and Erik with more training under his belt and the return of Hackett. I love those long races!
These guys and ladies, (Vendt, Lochte, H Peirsol) who make our field deeper are just as exciting to me as the fastest guys.
And I totally agree that Neil and Jason are studs. But I am glad we have the new guys like Cullen Jones on the horizon, although I have to wonder what the outcome might have been if Nick Brunelli hadn't injured himself.

And if you guys don't vote for Chloe Sutton.... I dont know what to think. That child (14yrs old) is an ANIMAL!

OOh let's all say a big Happy birthday to Silawen and Enyo!

By lala, at 10/16/2006 2:33 AM
Ryan broke NCAA records for the 200 back, 400 IM, and 200 IM.

By Terrie, at 10/16/2006 12:09 PM
Thanks Terrie! I knew he had a kickass year! Brendan kicked bigger bootay, but Ryan kicked a lot of smaller bootay. Brendan deserves to win this award, but Ryan definately needs to have been nominated.

By lala, at 10/17/2006 2:23 AM
Lala... for a second, I thought I read that Brendan had a bigger "bootay" than Ryan did. hahaha
Brendan so needs to win this award but I'm so glad for Ryan as well. :)

By Maria_R, at 10/20/2006 8:02 AM

Thursday, October 12, 2006

Golden Goggle Nominees Announced

23 Comments:

Brendan's Schedule