MALIBU, Calif. — Eight Pepperdine student-athletes (two current and six former) will be competing at the 2012 Olympics, and a number of other Waves will be taking part in the London Games as coaches, according to a Pepperdine press release.
The eight athletes will be the third-most that Pepperdine has ever sent to one Olympics. 11 Pepperdine-affiliated athletes and coaches participated in the Games in 1988, as well as nine in 1984. More than 40 have participated in the Olympics since 1956, and these Waves have won a total of seven gold medals, eight silver medals and three bronze medals.
Below is the list for 2012, as stated by the press release:
ATHLETES
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Yakhouba Diawara, France
Diawara (Pepperdine ’05) is making his first Olympic appearance. He played two seasons for the Waves and was named to the All-WCC first team in 2004. Diawara played in the NBA for four years and has most recently been playing in Italy.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Miranda Ayim, Canada
Ayim (Pepperdine ’10) is making her first Olympic appearance. She was a three-time All-WCC first teamer and was the Division I-AAA Women’s Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2009-10. Ayim set the school record for career blocked shots. She had a brief stint in the WNBA after graduation. This is the first time Pepperdine will ever have an athlete compete in the sport of women’s basketball.
WOMEN’S SOCCER
Roxanne Barker, South Africa
Barker (a current senior at Pepperdine) is making her first Olympic appearance. She has been named to the All-WCC second team twice and honorable mention once in her three seasons thus far. This is the first time Pepperdine will ever have an athlete compete in the sport of women’s soccer.
MEN’S TENNIS
Robert Lindstedt, Sweden
Lindstedt (Pepperdine ’98) is making his first Olympic appearance. He will compete in men’s doubles and possibly mixed doubles. In his only season at Pepperdine after transferring from Fresno State, Lindstedt and partner Kelly Gullett reached the championship match of the 1998 NCAA men’s doubles tournament. Lindstedt has reached the final at Wimbledon in men’s tennis in each of the last three years and is ranked 10th in the world in doubles.
WOMEN’S TRACK
Sarah Attar, Saudi Arabia
Attar (a current junior at Pepperdine) is making her first Olympic appearance. She is one of the first two female athletes ever to compete at the Olympics for Saudi Arabia. This is a first time a Pepperdine athlete will compete in track and field at the Olympics since 1972. Attar will run the 800 meters.
MEN’S VOLLEYBALL
Sean Rooney, United States
Rooney (Pepperdine ’05) is appearing in his second Olympics. He and the U.S. won a gold medal in 2008. Rooney was the 2005 AVCA National Player of the Year for Pepperdine and was a four-time All-American (three times on the first team). He won a national championship with the Waves in 2005.
MEN’S WATER POLO
Merrill Moses, United States
Jesse Smith, United States
Smith (Pepperdine ’06) is appearing in his third Olympics and Moses (Pepperdine ’98) will be in his second. Both won silver medals with the 2008 team. Moses helped lead Pepperdine to the 1997 NCAA championship, where he was named tri-MVP, and was a three-time All-American. Smith was a four-time All-American (three times on the first team).
COACHES
One-time and future Pepperdine men’s water polo coach Terry Schroeder (Pepperdine ’81) is the head coach of the United States men’s water polo team again in 2012. He led the U.S. to a silver medal in 2008. Schroeder was a four-time Olympian as a player and won silver medals in 1984 and 1988.
Current men’s volleyball coach Marv Dunphy (Pepperdine ’74) will be coaching at the Olympics for the sixth time. Unlike the others, this time will be with the U.S. women’s volleyball team as a consultant coach. He led the 1988 men’s team to a gold medal as head coach and was a consultant coach for the 2008 gold-medal-winning men’s squad.
Gary Sato (Pepperdine ’78) is serving as an assistant coach for the U.S. men’s volleyball team for the third time. He was a coach on teams that won gold in 1988 and bronze in 1992.
Marcio Sicoli, an assistant coach for the Pepperdine women’s volleyball team, is also the beach coach for the duo of Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh. The pair won gold medals in 2004 and 2008.
ADDITIONAL PEPPERDINE CONNECTIONS
Kevin Barnett (Pepperdine ’97) is serving as a broadcaster for NBC Sports for the second straight Olympics. He was a two-time Olympian playing for the U.S. men’s volleyball team … Bob Ctvrtlik (Pepperdine ’85) was a member of the International Olympic Committee from 1996-2008 … A couple of current and former student-athlete just came up short of a spot in the Olympics at qualifying tournaments, including current senior Anisa Guajardo (Mexico, women’s soccer) and Fred Winters (Pepperdine ’04, Canada, men’s volleyball) … Jonathan Winder (Pepperdine ’08) is an alternate for the U.S. men’s volleyball team.
