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By University Communications
August 12, 2008

Athletes and coaches are representing The University of Arizona – on the field, in the pool and on the court – at the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing.

The U.S. women’s softball team, led by UA softball coach Mike Candrea, began the defense of its gold medal with an 11-0 victory over Venezuela. Jennie Finch, Alicia Hollowell, Lovieanne Jung and Caitlyn Lowe are representing the UA on the team.

Wildcats were essential on offense and defense, as Finch combined with another hurler for a no-hitter, while Lowe and Jung combined to go 4-for-6, with a home run, two runs scored and three RBI.

The U.S. team faces off against Australia in their next game on Aug. 13.

Matt Grevers, who trains in Tucson with UA head swimming coach Frank Busch, earned his first individual medal of the Olympics, as he earned a silver medal in the men’s 100-meter backstroke.

His time of 53.11 was 0.57 seconds behind USA teammate Aaron Piersol, as the Americans swept the top two places on the medal stand. Grevers also earned a gold medal as part of the USA winning the 4 x 100-meter freestyle relay.

Tucson native and UA student Lacey Nymeyer captured the first medal for a UA athlete in the 2008 Summer Games, as she was part of the U.S. silver-medal-winning 4 x 100-meter freestyle relay team on Sunday.

Late Monday, the UA’s Jean Basson, who represents South Africa, finished fourth in the men’s 200-meter freestyle final with a time of 1:45.97. Basson, who will be a junior at the UA this year, finished behind the USA’s Michael Phelps, who won the event in a world record time of 1:42.96.

After winning both his preliminary heat and the semifinal, Basson told South African Sport Magazine, "I gave it my all and there was nothing left in the tank. It's cool for me as this is my first major international final and I came fourth in the Olympics. It motivates me to go back to Arizona, train harder on my start and turns and then I can come back next time and grab a medal."

Five current or former Wildcats took part in the men’s 100-meter freestyle preliminaries at the Water Cube in Beijing Tuesday morning.

Venezuelan Albert Subirats finished second in heat six with a time of 48.97. Canadian Joel Greenshields (49.01) and South African Ryk Neethling (49.28) finished seventh and eighth, respectively, in heat nine. In the same heat, South African Lyndon Ferns (48.26) and Swede Jonas Persson (48.51) finished in third and fifth places, respectively. Of the group, Ferns and Persson advanced to Wednesday’s semifinals.

Arizona swimmers were a major part of the 4 x 100-meter relay finals. Joel Greenshields swam the second leg for the Canadian team, which finished sixth in the final. The South African team of Lyndon Ferns, Roland Schoeman, Ryk Neethling and Darian Townsend finished seventh in the final. All four competed for the Wildcats. Also competing in the heat was Simon Burnett, who helped Great Britain qualify for the final, where they finished eighth.

Three Wildcats also took part in the men’s 4 x 200-meter relay. Nicolas Nilo swam the leadoff leg for his native Brazil in heat one and posted a 1:49.49 split as the team finished eighth in a time of 7:19.54. Heat two featured Basson and Darian Townsend swimming for South Africa, where the duo propelled the team to a fourth-place finish in a time of 7:10.91.

Robertas Javtokas, a former Wildcat playing on the Lithuanian national basketball team, posted eight points and seven rebounds as Lithuania routed Iran, 99-67. In 16 minutes played, the 6-foot-11 center connected on 4-of-7 field goals and added a blocked shot. Lithuania improved to 2-0 in Group A pool play.

The U.S. women’s volleyball team was swept by Cuba on Monday and is now 1-1 in pool play. Kim Glass, a three-time All-American for the Wildcats, notched three kills and one block, while playing in two of the three games against the Cuban team.