Of the 36 former,
current and future Gator athletes who have qualified for this year's
games, 23 of them will be competing in London's beautiful new Aquatics
Centre, this year's site for swimming.
Five of those athletes —
ex-Gators Ryan Lochte, Conor Dwyer, Clark Burckle and Dana Vollmer and
current standout Elizabeth Beisel — will don the red, white and blue of
Team USA, as will UF coach Gregg Troy, the head coach for the U. S.
men's team.
While most of the focus
understandably has been on the anticipated pool duels between Lochte
and teammate Michael Phelps, Beisel will be one of the top medal threats
for the U. S. women. The rising junior from North Kingstown, R.I., just
missed a medal in Beijing in 2008 as a wide-eyed 15-year-old, finishing
fourth in the 200-meter individual medley and fifth in the 200-meter
backstroke.
Now the reigning world
champion in the 400-meter IM, Beisel, the 2012 SEC Female Swimmer of the
Year, is coming off an impressive win in that event at the U. S.
Olympic Trials. She also qualified for the 200 back by finishing second
behind teenage sensation Missy Franklin.
“I think last time I
was just so young and so focused on ‘Oh my God, I'm here at the Olympics
and this is my dream come true,' that I didn't really have any goals,”
Beisel said. “I mean, I was excited if I got a medal or made a final,
but this year I know what I can do. I've been through it before.”
Dwyer, the 2010 and
2011 SEC Male Swimmer of the Year, is headed to his first Olympics by
virtue of finishing runner-up in the 400 freestyle at the U. S. Trials
to fellow Gator Swim Club member and winner Peter Vanderkaay, a Michigan
alum who has been training alongside Lochte and Dwyer.
Dwyer also will swim a leg of the 4x200 freestyle relay.
“This is something I've
been striving for my entire career,” Dwyer said. “I've been training
with Ryan and Peter, who both are going to their third Olympics, and I
feel like I'm in the best shape of my life. I'm very excited.”
The remaining 18
swimmers with UF ties will represent a variety of countries, led by the
quartet of ex-Gators Marco Loughran, Gemma Spofforth, Jemma Lowe and
Stephanie Proud for host Great Britain.
Troy, an assistant
coach for the U.S. men in 2008, is just the second UF coach in history
to be named a U.S. Olympic head coach, joining former track and field
coach Jimmie Carnes (1980).
“This team has the potential to be very strong, but the reality is a lot depends on how Ryan and Michael perform,” Troy said. “If those two guys are on, we should be really good.”
