Friday, August 8, 2008

Around the NCAC - Olympic Swimming Edition!

** Allegheny AD Betsy Mitchell, a former Olympian, is in demand, with the Beijing Olympics officially starting today. A dominant competitive swimmer for over a decade, she earned a silver medal in the 100-meter backstroke at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. She also won gold that season as a member of the 400 medley relay team. Mitchell earned her second Olympic berth in 1988, helping the 400 medley relay team to a Silver Medal.

She and Edinboro director of athletics Bruce Baumgartner headlined an article in the July/August 2008 edition of Edge Magazine, a bi-monthly publication released by the Meadville Tribune. The article focuses on the role of politics in the Olympics - a hot topic considering all the talk of China hosting the 2008 games.

Mitchell and Baumgartner both competed in the 1984 Games that were boycotted by 14 Eastern Bloc nations. They are also united in their belief that politics should not have a role within athletics. Click here for the complete article.

On Tuesday, Mitchell was also interviewed about her Olympic experiences by CBS affiliate WSEE-TV 35, at 6 p.m. The segment will also appear on the station's website.

** Hiram head swimming and diving coach Jack Groselle and assistant coach Laura Kessler were featured in a news article in the Health News section of Tuesday's Cleveland Plain Dealer. The pair, along with the record-setting five-time Olympian Dara Torres, were featured in an article about swimming and older athletes. To read the complete article, please click here.

** Former Kenyon swimmer Andrejs Duda is making his second trip to the Olympics. He will travel to Beijing as a member of the Latvian team. Duda, a native of Jelgava, Latvia, qualified for in both the 100 butterfly and the 200 individual medley events.

He, along with fellow Kenyon swimming alum, Agnese Ozolina, swam at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece. At that time, Duda placed 53rd in the 100-meter butterfly, while Ozolina placed 43rd in the women's 100-meter freestyle.

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