Aggies head to London Olympics

While Aggies might be looking forward to the jump in competition to the SEC this season, a total of 23 different Aggies and coaches will first take on the world in the Olympic Games. Here’s a breakdown of who’s participating. (Athletes in bold represent current student-athletes at Texas A&M, athletes in italics represent Team USA)

Camille Adams ‘14 – USA – Swimming - 200 Butterfly

Triin Aljand ‘10– Estonia – Swimming – 50 Free

Alia Atkinson ‘10 – Jamaica – Swimming – 100 Breast

Kanika Beckles ‘13 – Grenada – Track and Field – 400 Meter

Janeil Bellille ‘15 – Trinidad and Tobago – Track and Field – 400 Hurdles

Wayne Davis II ‘14 – Trinidad and Tobago – Track and Field – 110 M Hurdles

Erica Dittmer ‘14 – Mexico – Swimming – 200 IM

Amini Fonua ‘12 – Tonga – Swimming – 100 Breast

Tabarie Henry ‘11 – U.S. Virgin Islands – Track and Field – 400 Meter

Liliana Ibanez ‘14 – Mexico – Swimming – 100 and 200 Free

Antanas Kavaliauskas ‘07 – Lithuania – Basketball

Breeja Larson ‘14 – USA – Swimming – 100 Breast

Miranda Leek ‘16 – USA – Archery (Will be a freshman this fall)

Deon Lendore ‘15 – Trinidad and Tobago – Track and Field – 400 M and 4x400

Rita Medrano ‘12 – Mexico – Swimming – 200 Butterfly

Jennifer Nichols ‘12 – USA – Archery

Jaele Patrick ‘12 – Australia – Diving – 3M Springboard

Kim Pavlin ‘14 – Croatia – Swimming – 200 IM, 200 Back

Demetrius Pinder ‘11 – Bahamas – Track and Field – 400 M and 4x400

Gerald Phiri ‘11 – Zambia – Track and Field – 100 M and 200 M

Eric Sehn ‘08 – Canada – Diving – 10 M Platform

Jeneba Tarmoh ‘12 – USA – Track and Field – 4x100 Relay Pool

Julia Wilkinson ‘10 – Canada – Swimming – 100 Back, 4x100 Free, 4x100 Medley Relay, 100 Free

In addition to the athletes, Texas A&M swimming coach Steve Bultman is an assistant on the Team USA staff. Robert Fausett ‘97 coaches Taekwondo for the Brazilian team.

Medal Hopefuls

Breeja Larson is considered the the third fastest swimmer in the world in 100 breaststroke and, to her benefit, the world’s second fastest swimmer isn’t in the event. Larson has a great chance at an individual bronze medal representing team USA. A swimming medal for Team USA would be the second in as many olympics for Aggie athletes, Christine Marshall medaled in Beijing as part of the 200 relay.

Another good chance comes from Antanas Kavaliauskas and the Lithuanian basketball team. They’re currently the fifth ranked team in the world, but will face major challenges not only from the heavy gold-medal favorite USA but the talented teams from Spain and Argentina as well. “AK” is joined on the team by Missouri’s Linas Kleiza (Toronto Raptors) and his NBA teammate Jona Valanciunas.

If she gets a chance to run, Jeneba Tarmoh and Team USA are the heavy favorites in the women’s 4 x 100 sprint relay.