‘Eaters send nine to Games

Nine UC Irvine affiliates will be official participants in the Summer

Olympics, which begin today at Athens, Greece.

Five ex-Anteaters are members of the United States men’s water

polo team: Omar Amr, Ryan Bailey, Genai Kerr, Dan Klatt and Jeff

Powers. This is the second Olympics for Bailey and the first for the

other four players. The Americans face Croatia in their first game on

Sunday.

Lanee Butler-Beashel and Peter Wells will be competing for the

U.S. sailing team in Mistrals at the 2004 Games. This marks the

fourth Olympic competition for Butler-Beashel and the initial one for

Wells. The Mistral competition begins Sunday. Former UCI sailor Jay

Glaser, who competed in the 1984 Games, is an assistant coach with

the U.S. team for the second straight Olympics.

UC Irvine junior Lara Bjargardottir of Reykjavik, Iceland, has

qualified in both the 200-meter freestyle and the 200 individual

medley at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. Bjargardottir

will represent her native Iceland at the games. The preliminaries and

semifinals will be contested Monday and the finals Tuesday.

Bjargardottir was named Icelandic Female Swimmer of the Year in

1999 and 2000 as she represented Iceland in the 2000 Olympic Games in

Sydney, Australia. She placed 27th in the 200 freestyle and 36th in

the 100 free in Sydney.

Bjargardottir became the first female swimmer in UC Irvine history

to qualify for the NCAA championships in 2004.

This year’s UCI representation brings the university’s total to 39

student-athletes and coaches who have participated in a total of 71

Olympics.