<p>The Beijing Olympics are here and Im sure we all enthusiastically supporting the athletes representing our country. Many of these athletes compete in the shadows of more popular sports at the universities they represent, yet have an unequaled combination of mental and physical discipline to compete at this world-class level. I think having these individuals on a college campus would be an enriching experience for all students enrolled in the university. With that as background, I am curious as to the number of these unheralded Olympians tied to a particular school. If you have data for a particular school, I would be interested to see it posted. The University of Florida has 33 athletes competing this year. At Athens in 2004, UF had 27 and garnered a total of 7 medals (4 gold, 2 silver, and 1 bronze). Im sure there are other schools with awesome totals, so lets see it!</p>
<p>UCLA sent a total of 38 athletes & coaches to the Beijing Olympics. In 2004 they sent 57 athletes. Of the 19 medals UCLA took home in 2004, eight were gold, eight were bronze and three were silver. If UCLA were a country, it would have placed 14th overall in the medal count.</p>
<p>I don't know that this is comprehensive, but here are pics of 25 athletes and coaches from UT: Orange</a> and white at the Olympics, 07.27.08 | Photo Gallery | Statesman</p>
<p>BTW, check out the abs on no. 18. Amazing.</p>
<p>Oh, here's something from UT:</p>
<p>"Twenty-two current or former Longhorn student-athletes have earned spots on their respective countries' 2008 Olympic team and a total of 27 athletes and coaches will represent their countries from Aug. 8-24 in Beijing, China. ... The other countries represented by Longhorns are Antigua, Jamaica, Mexico, South Korea and Zimbabwe."</p>
<p>I've also heard that Stanford also sends a lot. I'll look in their newsletter thing..</p>
<p>1) You will be lucky to catch a glimpse of an olympian in 4 years at the massive schools.</p>
<p>2) Top flight olympians aren't going to many classes. It would surprise me if Michael Phelps went to more than one a day, if that, with his schedule. That said, I'm sure he miraculously meets the requirements of the school (not complaining, just saying)</p>
<p>It's not really an enriching experience, you'll never even see them.</p>
<p>Anyways, here is total medals so far for michigan.</p>
<p>Michael Phelps (7g)
Peter Vanderkaay, Swimming (1g 1b)
Sada Jacobsen, Fencing (1s 1b)</p>
<p>8g,1s,2b</p>
<p>I counted 27 athletes and 5 coaches.</p>
<p>And I know Stanford sends a ton for waterpolo and water sports in general.</p>
<p>I could be mistaken, but I don't think Phelps was ever an actual student at Umich. He was a "volunteer assistant coach" for the swim team and a member of Club Wolverine which is affiliated but not part of the Michigan sports program.</p>
<p>Phelps couldn't swim for UMich because he was already a pro. He did attend classes though - from Wikipedia:</p>
<p>Between 2004 and 2008, Phelps attended the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan, studying sports marketing and management.</p>
<p>2008 Cal Berkeley Olympians:
California</a> Golden Bears - Olympics</p>
<p>
[quote]
2008 Beijing</p>
<p>Women's Swimming
Natalie Coughlin (USA) - 100 Backstroke (Gold), 400 Free Relay (Silver), 200 Individual Medley (Bronze), 800 Free Relay (Bronze), 100 Freestyle (Bronze)
Sara Isakovic (Slovenia) - 200 Freestyle (Silver)
Emily Silver (USA) - 400 Free Relay (Silver)</p>
<p>Men's Swimming
Nathan Adrian (USA) - 400 Free Relay (Gold)
Milorad Cavic (Serbia) - 100 Butterfly (Silver)</p>
<p>Men's Rowing
Scott Frandsen (Canada) - Pair (Silver)
[/quote]
</p>
<p>
[quote]
California alumni and current student-athletes have combined for 10 medals about halfway through the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Milorad Cavic and Scott Frandsen both added silver medals for Serbia and Canada, respectively, Saturday in Beijing. If Cal were a country, the Golden Bears would rank No. 12 in the medal count as of Saturday morning Pacific Time.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Milorad Cavic lost to Michael Phelps in the 100 fly by a fingernail.</p>
<p>Ivies</a> in China</p>
<p>It has lists from Summer and Winter Olympics of the past for the Ivy League.</p>
<p>41 Trojans in Beijing, and over history USC has sent more athletes to the Olympics than any other university 41</a> Trojans To Compete In 2008 Beijing Olympics :: USC has won a gold medal at every Olympics from 1912.</p>
<p>:D</p>
<p>Don't know about colleges -- but my son's middle school of 700 kids has a handful of kids training for the olympics every year and so does our high school. If kids are still school aged and training at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, they attend those two schools. It is nice -- but the regular kids don't see much of them; they are only required to attend a few hours each day and their participation in school sports/activities is nil.</p>
<p>Yeah, Phelps was just a part-time student at Michigan, I highly doubt he actually finished his degree (or really even intended to). For lots of athletes, it can be very beneficial to be doing something like academics on the side. Helps keep you from burning out from focusing on one thing all the time, and forces you to have better time management skills.</p>
<p>BC sent 4 students to the olympics. soccer, sailing, and two others that i cant remember. just found out when i went to check my classes and saw that on our main page, pretty cool!</p>
<p>Going by this list...</p>
<p>Olympians by College Affiliation
University of Florida - 33 athletes
UCLA - 38 Athletes and Coaches
University of Texas - 38 Athletes
University of Michigan - 27 athletes
Boston College - 4 athletes
USC - 41 athletes
UC Berkeley - 47 athletes</p>
<p>I have heard Auburn mentioned several times by commentators. There are some women swimmers from there and I think I heard it mentioned for a track athlete as well.</p>
<p>ryan lochte goes to florida! GO GATORS!</p>
<p>Florida State University has 13 competitors in the 2008 Summer Olympics.</p>
<p>See: FSU.com</a> :: Florida State coaches and athletes set for Olympics in Beijing</p>
<p>Go 'Noles!! GO FSU!</p>
<p>Walter Dix
Rafeeq Curry
Ngoni Makusha
Brian Dzingai
Gonzalo Barroilhet
Dorian Scott
Ricardo Chambers
Barbara Parker
Andrew Lemoncello
Tom Lancashire
Yuruby Alicart
Paul Rogers
Kevin Sullivan</p>
<p>Rutgers has 6...
<a href="http://www.rurtgers.edu%5B/url%5D">www.rurtgers.edu</a></p>
<p>Stanford has 47...
General</a> Releases - Stanford University Official Athletic Site</p>
<p>Keep the posts coming. When we are done, I will declare the "Top Tier" Elite Olympic Universities. No arguing...this is my thread and I set the rules. Coaches don't count by the way, nor do alternates. I will accept all post counts as accurate, but if I find you're fudging, your school will be disqualified from the rankings and banished to the lowest-tier universities forevermore.</p>