Ledecky Wins 4th Straight USA Swimming Athlete Of Year Award
ATLANTA (AP) — Katie Ledecky, who swept the 200, 400 and 800-meter freestyles at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, won USA Swimming's athlete of the year for a record fourth consecutive time and was honored for her world-record victory in the 800 free.
The awards were presented Saturday night at the United States Aquatic Sports Convention in downtown Atlanta.
Ledecky earned four golds and a silver medal in Rio. She became the second woman since Debbie Meyer in 1968 to sweep the freestyle events at the same Olympics. She also swam the anchor leg on the winning 4x200 free relay and the second-place 4x100 free relay.
Ledecky collected the Phillips 66 Performance Award for the fifth straight year. She won the 800 free by 11 seconds.
The USA Swimming Award was given to Travis Tygart, CEO of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, for his and USADA's efforts in providing fair sport for clean athletes. The award is the highest honor given annually by the national governing body.
Dave Durden of the University of California at Berkeley, who coached five members of the U.S. Olympic team, received the American Swimming Coaches Association Coach of the Year.
Olympians Haley Anderson and Jordan Wilimovsky earned open water athletes of the year following fifth-place finishes in Rio.
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