VOTE HERE: http://swimfoundation.org/Page.aspx?pid=302
Ryan is nominated in the following categories (The relays in which Ryan participated are marked with an *)
Relay Performance of the Year:
2009 World Championships - Men's 4x100m Free Relay *
2009 World Championships - Men's 4x200m Free Relay *
2009 World Championships - Men's 4x100m Medley Relay
Male Race of the Year:
Ryan Lochte: 200m IM at World Championships
Aaron Peirsol: 200m Backstroke at World Championships
Michael Phelps: 100m Butterfly at World Championships
Michael Phelps: 200m Butterfly at World Championships
Male Athlete of the Year:
Ryan Lochte
Aaron Peirsol
Michael Phelps
I believe Ryan should win the Male Athlete of the Year for 2008/09. Here is why:
- 2008 U.S. Short Course Nationals - After only about a week's training following his post-Olympics hiatus, Ryan entered in 6 races, making the "A" final in all 6 and winning 4 of them. He won the men's high point award for the meet. Ryan's accomplishments by race were:
- 50 yard free - 7th place
- 100 yard free - 4th place
- 100 yard back - 1st place (defeated Matt Grevers & Ben Hesen)
- 200 yard free - 1st place (missed the American record by .32)
- 200 yard back - 1st place (defeated Tyler Clary)
- 200 yard IM - 1st place (defeated Eric Shanteau)
Neither Michael Phelps nor Aaron Peirsol, the other nominees for Athlete of the Year, swam at the Short Course Nationals.
2. 2008/09 Grand Prix Results - Ryan swam in 5 out of the 6 Grand Prix events, missing only the Texas Grand Prix in Austin. He finished 2nd overall and 1st among men for total points from all of the Grand Prix events combined. No other male swimmer did as well as Ryan in the Grand Prix events.
In the Grand Prix events he entered, he had the following results:
- Minnesota Grand Prix - (2 first place finishes in 200 IM and 100 back, 1 second place finish in 100 breast and a fifth place finish in 50 free)
- So Cal Grand Prix - (4 first place finishes in 200 free, 100 back, 200 back & 100 breast, 1 second place finish in 100 fly, 1 third place finish in 50 free and a 9th place finish in 100 free)
- Missouri Grand Prix - (4 first place finishes in 100 back, 200 back, 200 IM & 400 IM, 1 second place finish in 100 fly and 2 ninth place finishes - 1st in B final - in 100 free and 200 free)
- Charlotte Ultra Swim - (1 second place finish in 200 IM, 4th in 100 back, 9th in 100 free and 11th in 400 free)
- Santa Clara International Grand Prix - (3 first place finishes in 400 IM, 100 back & 200 back, 1 second place finish in 100 fly & 4th place in the 100 free)
Michael Phelps swam in 2 Grand Prix events, Charlotte and Santa Clara. Aaron Peirsol swam in the Charlotte event and the prelims only for the Texas event.
3. Supporting Local Swimmers & Meets - Ryan swam in two meets in Florida in 2009: the Florida Spring Championships and the Speedo South Sectionals. In these meets, not only did Ryan have good results, he helped UF swimmers achieve NCAA "A" qualifying times and motivated the age group swimmers. Ryan's results were:
- Florida Spring Championships - 6 first place finishes in 400 IM, 200 free, 50 free, 100 back, 100 free and 200 back.
- Speedo South Sectionals - 4 first place finishes in 200 free, 100 back, 200 back & 200 IM, 1 second place finish in 100 breast.
4. 2009 U.S. Nationals (Long Course) - Ryan won 2 events - 200 IM & 400 IM, placed second in the 200 back and third in the 200 free. He had the second fastest prelim time in the 100 free. He qualified for the 4x100 free and 4x200 free relays. Ryan scored more points than any other male swimmer in the meet.
Michael Phelps won 3 events setting 1 WR. Aaron Peirsol won 2 events setting 2 WRs and came in 3rd in another. Phelps qualified for all 3 relays. Peirsol qualified for 1 relay.
5. 2009 Worlds (Long Course) - Ryan won 2 events - 200 IM & 400 IM, setting a new world record in the 200 IM. Ryan won gold medals as part of the 4x100 and 4x200 free relays, swimming the 2nd fastest times in both relays. The 4x200 free relay team, which Ryan anchored, set a new world record. Ryan placed third in the 200 back. Final medal totals: 4 golds and 1 bronze in 5 events. Ryan set 1 individual and 1 relay WR.
Michael Phelps won 5 golds and 1 silver and set 2 individual and 1 relay WR. Aaron Peirsol won 2 golds and did not qualify for the finals in his other event. He set 1 individual WR.
Ryan's accomplishments in 2008/09 were unequaled by any other swimmer when viewed collectively. He swam in a large number of events, entering a variety of races involving all four strokes. He swam both sprints & distance races. With the exception of the Charlotte Ultra Swim, Ryan performed well in all meets he entered. Ryan scored the most points among male swimmers at the U.S. long-course and short-course nationals. He set 2 WRs at the World Championships and won 4 gold medals. Ryan took a significant amount of time off after Beijing, just like many other 2008 Olympians, but he still managed to enter nearly every major swimming event in the U.S. and do well. For all of this he deserves to win Male Athlete of the Year for 2008/09.
3 comments:
Your argument for why Ryan deserves to win Male Athlete of the Year is so very well made. I was wondering if you had considered posting it at the LJ community? I think it's something that a lot of Ryan fans would both like and appreciate reading.
I'd love to post this at RD, but I don't have any pictures to go with it. Is it still OK?
Oh yeah, totally. Since it's Golden Goggle-related, I have some past red carpet pictures if you'd like to include one, but a picture isn't required for a post. :)
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