Ivy swimmers against top competition

Chelsea Clinton sat poolside at the Sydney Aquatic Centre on the night of Wed., Sept. 20, cheering on fellow Stanford Cardinal Misty Hyman in the final of the women's 200-meter butterfly. Hyman pulled off a stunning upset, notching a time of 2:05.88 and beating Australian favorite Susie O'Neill by seven-tenths of a second.

JULIA TIERNAN/YH George Gleason, TC '01, is one of the few Ivy Leaguers at the Olympics.

Tinka Dancevic, a member of the Brown class of 2002, also competed in the 200-meter butterfly under the Croatian flag, finishing near the bottom of the pack with a time of 2:21.02 in the qualifying round. Dancevic admitted she was not pleased with her performance. "I gave everything I had in me at that moment," she said. "Unfortunately my time didn't show how fast I can actually go." Dancevic is just one of a number of Ivy League athletes at the games Down Under, along with fellow Brown Bear Dawn Chuck '02, who is swimming for the Jamaican National Team. Yalies George Gleason, TC '01, and Stephen Fahy, MC '01, are swimming for the Virgin Islands and Bermuda, respectively. Harvard is sending one undergraduate athlete: Dora Gyorffy '02 will compete in the women's high jump competition for the Hungarian National team next Thurs., Sept. 28. Do any of the Ivy Leaguers have what it takes to make it to the medal podium? Probably not. But just being in Sydney in the company of the greatest athletes in the world is enough of a thrill.

Unlike Clinton, Barbara Bush, DC '04, didn't travel down to Sydney to cheer on Gleason and Fahy, but they did just fine without her. Gleason and Fahy told the Herald in April that their individual goals were to reach the semifinals in each of their events, though they acknowledged that this might be a tall order. Neither swimmer made it to the semifinals, but both competed admirably. Gleason finished with times of 1:54.64 and 52.00 in the 200-meter freestyle and 100-meter freestyle, respectively. Dutchman Pieter van den Hoogenband ended up winning gold in both these events, with times of 1:45.35 and 48.30. Fahy and Gleason competed against each other in the 200-meter individual medley, (though swimming in different heats) with Gleason notching a time of 2:08.25 and Fahy 2:06.49. American Tom Dolan is the favorite to win the finals of this event.

While competing, Fahy and Gleason have had the chance to swim in the brand new arena built especially for the Olympics and it has been a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Gleason said that the pool in Sydney was the "nicest in the world." The 16,000-seat facility has been praised for its many amenities, including hot tubs, saunas, water slides, and palm trees, not to mention what have been called the fastest pools in the world.

Outside of the pool, living in the Olympic Village has been a unique experience for the athletes. Gleason explained that the village housing is brand new and will be divided into apartments and sold after the Games. Dancevic had a some complaints about her stay, however. "There's not much you can do here," she said. "They have only 50 computers for 15,000 people! There are games, a cinema, and that's pretty much it. Though the atmosphere is rather relaxing, which I find nice."

Relaxation is a good thing for these athletes, who are under extreme pressure to succeed. In the past, Ivy League undergraduates were a strong presence at the Olympics but in recent years they have been few and far between. In fact, they number one fewer this year than they might have: Princeton was to send rower Carola Ibanez '02, to compete for the Mexican crew team, but after she and a teammate switched coaches in July, the Mexican team banned her from the Olympics. Ibanez, who had taken a year off to train for the Games, was shocked. "We didn't think it could be true," she told the Daily Princetonian.

Despite their relative paucity, Ivy athletes who made it to the Games this year are enjoying themselves. Dancevic, who also competed in the 1996 Games in Atlanta, feels that the best part of the Games are the Opening Ceremonies. "They were quite extraordinary," she said. Gleason had hoped to be the Virgin Islands flag-bearer, as there were only seven other members of the team. But even though he didn't end up carrying his flag, he and Fahy did Yale proud when they hit the water and competed for gold.

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