Indiana University’s Lilly King took home two awards at the 2017 USA Swimming Golden Goggle Awards at the J.W. Marriott Los Angeles L.A. LIVE on Sunday night.
King won Female Race of the Year honors, as well as Relay Performance of the Year. The Evansville, Ind. native now has three Golden Goggle Awards to her name, as she won Breakout Performer of the Year in 2016.
King earned Female Race of the Year honors for the highly anticipated women’s 100m breaststroke final at the 2017 FINA World Championships. She jumped out to a quick lead off the blocks, led by more than half a second at the turn and held off the rest of the field over the final 50 meters to touch in a world record time of 1:04.13 – more than two-tenths of a second off the 4-year-old world record.
King and teammates Kathleen Baker, Kelsi Worrell and Simone Manuel added Relay Performance of the Year honors after winning gold and setting a world record in the women’s 4x100m medley relay at the FINA World Championships.
Along with King, two other Hoosiers were nominated for 2017 Golden Goggle Awards.
Blake Pieroni was nominated as part of the men’s 4×100 freestyle relay at the 2017 FINA World Championships. The Americans led wire-to-wire to claim their first victory in the event at the FINA World Championships since 2009.
IU head swimming coach Ray Looze was nominated for Coach of the Year after guiding four swimmers to spots on the U.S. roster at the FINA World Championships and all earned a spot on the podium. Lilly King led the way with four gold medals, as well as world-record performances in the 50m and 100m breaststroke events.
Pieroni, Zane Grothe and Cody Miller combined to earn five relay medals in Budapest. A women’s assistant coach for the FINA World Championships, Looze was named the 2017 ASCA Coach of the Year. He also led Indiana to top-eight finishes at the men’s and women’s NCAA Championships in 2017.
The No. 1/9 Indiana Hoosiers men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams will be back in the pool on Wednesday, Dec. 20 when the team takes on No. 11/24 Arizona State in a dual meet in Tempe, Ariz.
