Golden Goggle Awards 2011

My mom always said I was born to swim. I'd sit in my stroller and kick my legs as fast as they would go. Once I got in a pool I was like a fish to water. Swimming has now been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. Until about a year ago, I could still be found at swim meets almost every weekend running the timing system or running the computer system.

So, you can imagine my delight when an email came in from the USA Swimming Foundation asking me to photograph their biggest (non-swimming) event of the year, the Golden Goggle Awards! It was such an honor to meet some of my favorite Olympians and photograph such a large event! Thank you USA Swimming Foundation for trusting me this honor!







I got to play on the red carpet before the event!


Kaitlin Sandeno, 2000 & 2004 Olympian (and my idol when I was a swimmer!), & Mel Stewart, two-time Olympic gold medalist, and our guide for the evening!


Kaitlin Sandeno & Jason Lezak (fellow Rose Bowl Aquatics swimmer!)


Ryan Lochte, you'll get to know him really well during the next Olympics!


Shooting on the red carpet!





Our Host for the evening Kevin Nealon.


Female Race of the Year:Presenters - Chris Bauer (True Blood) & Dave BerkoffWinner - Missy Franklin


Male Race of the Year:Presenters - John Slattery (Mad Men) & Amy Van DykenWinner - Ryan Lochte


"The Return"





Bill Maxon & Rowdy Gaines


Impact Award: Presenters - Ryan Lochte Winner - Carolyn Dirks


Breakout Performer of the Year: Presenters - Kevin Farley & Debbie Meyer Winner - Alex Meyer


Perseverance Award: Presenters - John Naber & Louie Zamperini (The book Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption was written about him) Winner - Peter Vanderkay


Coach of the Year: Presenters - Dave Wharton & Summer Sanders Winner - Greg Troy


Relay Performance of the Year: Presenters - Tyler & Cameron Winklevoss (aka the guys that helped create Facebook!) Winner - 4x100 Relay Natalie Coughlin, Melissa Franlkin, Dana Vollmer, Rebecca Soni


Female Athlete of the Year: Presenters - Michael Lewis (author of Moneyball & The Blind Side) and Janet Evans
Winner - Missy Franklin


Male Athlete of the Year: Presenters - Brian Clay & Matt Biondi
Winner - Ryan Lochte



And to end the evening, a picture with my new friend, Kaitlin Sandeno!
Were you a guest at the Golden Goggles? Check out the rest here!

Sports: 2011 SCS Junior Olympics

Sports: LA Marathon 2010

For those of you who have followed my blog for a while you know that my husband has run the LA Marathon for the last 2 years. And you also know that my family and I chase after him in our car and cheer him on at every mile marker we can get to.

Because I don't run. I will never run. Never ever ever ever.

Instead I get up at 5am and chase after him in the car for almost 6 hours :)

This year was no different. My mom and I drove Doug out to the starting line at Dodger Stadium. The view of LA was amazing from our parking spot.

No, that's not the sunrise on our legs. That would be the headlights from the (rude) person parking next to us.

About an hour later the races finally started! First off were the wheelchair racers. These guys were flying down the hill!









Then came the elite women.


The elite men started 18 minutes after the women. Which ever man or woman comes in first wins a bonus of $100,000. Typically the men pass the women, but this year a woman won!




The masses of people came after the elite men. If you want to get your cut for the Boston Marathon, you have to beat this guy.

My mom holds the sign to help Doug find us while I take pictures. :)





The outfits people wear make me laugh! How do you run 26.2 miles dressed as Elvis or Stitch???




West Hollywood didn't disappoint this year! Introducing the WeHo cheerleaders!






It was fun getting to walk through Beverly Hills neighborhoods. All the homes were so beautiful!




This guy was standing on the corner rocking out on his violin! He was really good!


I loved this lady's sign! (If your the lady in this picture, I'm really sorry for taking your picture while you bent over! But I couldn't help myself!)


Students Run LA is an amazing group of students who all train to run the marathon. There are so many of them! They all make me so proud :)


Yes, his shirt says, "Fart if you like Polar Bears". And the other guy has a plane on his head.


Mile 25!




He still was going strong! (And isn't he the sweetest!)


I'm so proud of my 3 time marathon runner!

And next year we'll be right back out there chasing after him!