Coughlin, Phelps awarded as top U.S. swimmers（含译文）

小臭贝

NEW YORK -- Olympic champions Michael Phelps and Natalie Coughlin were in attendance to accept top honors Monday night at the USA Swimming Foundation's Golden Goggle Awards. Phelps and Coughlin took home the awards for Male and Female Athlete of the Year.

The gala, held at the New York Hilton and hosted by NBC's Bob Costas, celebrated the accomplishments of the 2008 U.S. Olympic swimmers.

Phelps took home a total of three Golden Goggle Awards for the night. His unprecedented eight Olympic gold medals and seven world records in Beijing earned him the Male Athlete of the Year award, as well as the Male Performance of the Year award for his stunning victory in the 100-meter butterfly. Phelps, along with teammates Garrett Weber-Gale, Cullen Jones and Jason Lezak, won the award for Relay Performance of the Year for their come-from-behind gold medal and world-record breaking swim in the 400m freestyle relay in Beijing. Lezak overtook a French swimmer in the last 10 meters of the race to seal the victory.

"It's been a fun year and hopefully there will be more to come," Phelps said.

Coughlin won top honors on the women's side, winning the Female Athlete of the Year trophy. Coughlin earned six medals at the Olympics -- one gold, two silver, and three bronze -- to become the first American woman in any sport to win six medals in one Olympics. In 2008, Coughlin broke the 100m back world record three times and set a total of 11 American records.

"This was a great year," Coughlin said. "This year was really special with so many records being broken and I'm really glad to have been a part of it."

Eric Shanteau claimed the Perseverance Award for his performance at the Olympics following his diagnosis with cancer just weeks before the 2008 Olympic Trials. After qualifying for the Olympic team in the 200m breast, Shanteau made the decision to live out his Olympic dream and compete in Beijing where he swam a personal-best time in his event. Following the Games, Shanteau returned home and had surgery.

Rebecca Soni was honored with two Golden Goggle awards, the Breakout Performer of the Year and the Female Performance of the Year, for her stellar performance in the 200m breaststroke. The University of Southern California senior won three medals in Beijing -- gold in the 200m breaststroke and silvers in the 100m breaststroke and 400m medley relay. Soni broke the world record in the 200m breaststroke, and defeated heavy favorite Leisel Jones of Australia to win her first gold.

For the third year in a row, the Coach of the Year honor was presented to Bob Bowman, who coached four swimmers onto the Olympic team -- Phelps, Peter Vanderkaay, Erik Vendt and Allison Schmitt. Bowman was a men's assistant coach in Beijing, marking his second appearance on the U.S. Olympic coaching staff.

Two special awards were also presented at the 2008 Golden Goggle Awards, the Athlete Humanitarian Award and the Impact Award. Both awards are presented in Olympic years only. The NCAA was the recipient of the Impact Award, a title given to the person or organization that demonstrates an overwhelming support for the sport of swimming throughout the Olympic quadrennial. Dr. Myles Brand, the president of the NCAA, accepted the award on its behalf.

The Athlete Humanitarian Award was presented to Jones for his work to promote diversity in the sport of swimming through visits to Boys and Girls Clubs and YMCAs to promote water safety. Jones serves as a national spokesman for Make a Splash, the national child-focused water safety initiative of the USA Swimming Foundation. Since its launch in February of 2007, Make a Splash has reached out to 750,000 kids through free or low-cost swim lessons or water safety education.