Auburn Olympic Recap (Finished 13th As a Soverign Nation)

[AUChizad]

http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/224/story/416132.html

Posted on Sun, Aug. 24, 2008
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Auburn glistens in Olympic moment
BY TROY JOHNSON - johnsont@ledger-enquirer.com --

In this part of the country, at this time of the year, universities become clearly defined territories.

Secession movements take place without a single shot being fired.

Georgia football fans become citizens of Bulldog Nation. Gainesville, Fla., becomes the capital of Gator Nation. Tennessee fans express the nationalistic pride of Vol Nation by wearing day-glow orange shirts and jean shorts. Alabama fans pledge their allegiance to the Nicktator.

When it comes to international influence, however, the athletic departments on those campuses have all the clout of Luxembourg at the moment. The Southeastern Conference's worldwide leader happens to be a school in the country with an Olympic medal haul higher than those of the Spain, Brazil, Poland and Kazakhstan.

If Lee County suddenly closes its borders, creates its own flag and pens its own national anthem, it will emerge as a formidable force for the 2012 Summer Games in London.

At the conclusion of 32 Olympic events Saturday in Beijing, Auburn found itself in 13th place in the medal standings, ahead of official contingents far more flush with competitors. Had it not been for Michael Phelps grabbing eight gold medals, Usain Bolt making his fellow sprinters look as if they were running through wet cement and China apparently recruiting gymnasts off elementary school playgrounds, Auburn's Beijing blitz could well represent the story of these games.

Auburn's Olympic contingent consisted of 31 current and former Tigers representing 15 different countries -- the United States, Australia, the Bahamas, Brazil, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, France, Jamaica, Guatemala, Hungary, South Africa, Trinidad & Tobago, Venezuela and Zimbabwe. While the university's official Web site touted 18 medals Saturday afternoon, it actually forgot about one.

Army Spc. Glenn Eller, a former Auburn student and current member of the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit, claimed a long-awaited gold medal in double trap.

As effective as Eller was with a shotgun, the Tigers have proven themselves to be even more dangerous when they're unarmed.

The swimming program, thanks in no small part to the efforts of Zimbabwe's Kirsty Coventry, Brazil's Cesar Cielo and American Margaret Hoelzer, more than doubled its previous record Olympic haul (six medals). Coventry accounted for four of the Tigers' 13 medals with a gold in the 200-meter backstroke and silvers in the 100 backstroke and 200 and 400 individual medleys.

Auburn's aquatic accomplishments would have been even more glittering if France had held its lead against the U.S. in the 400-meter freestyle relay. Former Auburn swimmer Fred Bousquet swam the fastest split on the race on France's third leg, but settled for silver after his teammate failed to hold off American Jason Lezak.

To understand the size of the wave Auburn swimmers generated, compare their count to the next highest totals posted by the alums of other SEC programs. Georgia won three swimming medals, while Tennessee had two.

So much of what Auburn accomplished in the water can be credited to former coach David Marsh, a 2007 Alabama Sports Hall of Fame inductee who regularly cranked out national title contenders and turned his campus into a training center for some of the world's elite swimmers.

Without his influence, it's entirely possible that Coventry would not have emerged as a "national treasure" in her native land or that Cielo wouldn't have developed the ability to separate himself from the field and claim gold in the 50-meter freestyle.

Not to be outdone, Auburn's track and field program, coached by Ralph Spry, has produced five medals. Two of them belong to Jamaica's Kerron Stewart, who claimed silver in the women's 100 meters and bronze in the 200.

What makes Auburn's Olympic output so amazing is the fact that football provides the pulse and so much of the sustenance for its overall athletic existence. But when Auburn athletes keep climbing the medal podium on the other side of the globe, it proves that non-revenue sports can co-exist peacefully with their larger, stronger sporting sibling.

They will continue to live in the shadows, however. Unlike quarterback Kodi Burns or offensive tackle Lee Ziemba, Coventry and Stewart could cross campus without being recognized by anyone or troubled for a single autograph.

In their chosen sports, the payoff and the praise come in four-year increments.

Auburn's swimmers and sprinters have proven they know how to wring every conceivable ounce of joy and possibility out of those moments.