Dressel only nominee for male athlete at Golden Goggles

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Caeleb Dressel might want to start practicing his acceptance speech for the Golden Goggles.

He’s the only swimmer nominated for male athlete of the year at the Nov. 24 awards in Los Angeles.

The Olympic and world champion from Florida has a leading five individual nominations for the awards that honor USA Swimming’s top athletes and performances this year. Nominations were announced Monday.

Dressel appears to be a cinch to win male race of the year, too. He’s nominated four times in that category, where his only competition is Jay Litherland.

Dressel is also nominated as a member of the mixed and men’s 4×100-meter freestyle relay teams in the Relay Performance of the Year category.

He became the first swimmer in history to win eight medals at this summer’s world championships in South Korea, including six golds.

Katie Ledecky and Regan Smith are tied for most female nominations with three each. They will vie for female athlete of the year along with Lilly King and Simone Manuel.

Online fan voting continues through Nov. 15. A percentage of the fan vote will count toward the final ballot.