WTVM.com and WTVM News Leader 9, Columbus, GA | Auburn swim team produces Olympians

Auburn swim team produces Olympians

July 10, 2008

Auburn, Ala. (WTVM) - Perhaps it's something in the water.  Auburn is a top training ground for competitive swimming each year in the NCAA finals.  Now, a long list of swimmers on the Auburn swim team will be going for the gold in Beijing this summer. 

"We have a wall of Olympians in the pool that is second to none in the country," Richard Quick, Auburn's Swim Coach said.   "They got their background in excellence from Auburn University and now they're professional athletes,"Quick added. 

A total of eleven of this year's Olympic swimmers have swam for Auburn, including three alumni that have made the U.S. Olympic Team.  Australia, Brazil, France, and Trinidad, are just a few countries that will be represented by current Auburn athletes.

"All three of the Americans - I've competed with them while being on the team as well," Bryan Lundquist, an Auburn swimmer, said. 

Lundquist says he can't pinpoint what exactly makes Auburn so successful.  "It's almost like a brother or sisterhood.  To compete alongside brothers and sisters, it makes you want to try that much harder when you look to the bleachers and see them standing there before your race."

There's a wealth of competitiveness that seems to produce excellence.  "The mind is extremely important, in swimming.  A swimmer can't accomplish that which he or she doesn't believe in," Quick said. 

Three Auburn signees will also be competing in Beijing.  Young athletes much like freshman Robert Looney.  "I'll be watching the Beijing Olympics to see some of my team mate's.  That's crazy," Looney said.  Whatever the secret is, it appears to be working for the Auburn swim team.

The Olympic swimming competition will be held August 8th -15th.  Former Auburn swimmer Rowdy Gaines will even be a commentator for the Olympic swim competition.