Hoff again named SportsWoman of Year

January 18, 2008

For earning 11 medals last year in international and national swimming competition, Towson's Katie Hoff has been named 2007 SportsWoman of the Year by the U.S. Olympic Committee.

"It's truly an honor," said Hoff, who also won in 2005. "I was really shocked to hear that I won."

Michael Phelps of Rodgers Forge received a new award, the male Outstanding Performance of the Year, for winning all seven events he entered at last year's FINA world championships.

Sprinter Tyson Gay was named SportsMan of the Year, the U.S. women's gymnastics team took team honors and Jessica Galli, a wheelchair track and field athlete, was selected Paralympian of the Year. Sprinter Allyson Felix won Outstanding Performance of the Year by a female.

For Hoff, 18, a member of the North Baltimore Aquatic Club, the awards just keep coming.

She won three national titles in July, bringing her career total to nine. In November, she was named Female Athlete of the Year by USA Swimming for winning three gold medals at the world championships in Australia. She set her first individual world record in the 400 individual medley, beating the competition by 7.25 seconds.

Hoff said this year's award "means more to me" than the one in 2005 because of the world mark that surprised even her.

Her next competition will be the University of Missouri Grand Prix, Feb. 15-18.

[Candus Thomson