Cheryl Haworth, foreground, will compete Aug. 16 in the superheavyweight category for weightlifting at the Olympics. (Anne Etheridge/photo, © Julie Wyman)
Coaches, vets, filmmaker, athletes involved with Beijing games
When you watch the Summer Olympics in August, keep an eye out for UC Davis connections — because, just like the concept of “six degrees of separation,” it’s amazing how close we all are.
Consider that two veterinarians will be ministering to all the horses competing in the Olympic equestrian events in Hong Kong, while another faculty member who is a documentary filmmaker finishes her research project on weightlifter Cheryl Haworth. Also, we’ve got a proud mom on staff whose daughter will be competing on the U.S. Women’s Softball Team and an alumnus who has trained many of the Olympic cyclists.
But, wait, there’s more. UC Davis has coaches, alumni and a current student all somewhat connected to the Aug. 8-24 event. Let us count the degrees of separation to show you how close UC Davis is to this summer’s Olympic action. And then, let the Games begin!
Connected: Vet couple to head Olympic horse hospital
UC Davis’ husband and wife veterinary team of Jack Snyder and Sharon Spier are headed for Hong Kong next week, where they will coordinate the equine veterinary facility for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games.
While Beijing will be the center for most of the summer games, the Olympic equestrian events will be held at two venues in Hong Kong, featuring approximately 280 competing horses.
Snyder and Spier will lead an international corps of 30 veterinarians, who will advise the veterinarians accompanying the horses. They will be prepared to evaluate lameness, treat injuries and even perform emergency surgeries. Snyder will be in charge of surgical procedures while Spier, an internal medicine specialist, will deal with infections and internal diseases.
Because the horses cannot leave the Olympic compound for medical treatment once the games begin, a full equine clinic, complete with a pharmacy, must be available. This specially built veterinary facility is located at the core equestrian venue at Sha Tin, next to the Hong Kong Jockey Club racetrack and close to the city center.
One degree: Studying weightlifter Cheryl Haworth
To continue her research about the meaning of weight and body image in American culture, UC Davis faculty member Julie Wyman will travel to Beijing to follow weightlifter Cheryl Haworth, the subject of her documentary "Strong!"
The assistant technocultural studies professor is using video to change how people think about body weight and health. Her focus is on Haworth, a 5-foot-8, 300-pound Olympic athlete.
“A large part of the purpose of me traveling to Beijing is to film Cheryl and her family’s experience outside the competition venue,” Wyman writes. “I want to show a bit of these Americans set not only in the middle of one of the biggest international tourists events anywhere, but also to show them encountering China.”
Wyman will also attend Haworth’s event with the athlete’s family Aug. 16.
“In my project, the competition is the ‘back story,’” Wyman writes. “I’m going to Beijing follow the moments that happen outside the venues. I’m looking to explore a more personal story of change over time and then to look at what that personal story tells us, in cultural terms.
“I’m hoping to interview some of Cheryl’s main competitors,” she continues. “Her real competitors are weightlifters from China, South Korea, and eastern Europe, and she only gets to face off with them once a year.”
Wyman will use these interviews to “flesh out” her theme on what it’s like to be a female weightlifter — and a superheavyweight at that.
Stay tuned for future updates on Wyman’s project, which she hopes to complete by the end of 2009. And, you can read about Wyman’s experiences during the Olympics in mid-August on her blog that UC Davis will be hosting. Just look for a new button on the home page that will say “Blogs, Facebook, iTunes U, etc.”
Learn more:
- A lens into multimedia, UC Davis Spotlight, 3.07.08
- Weightlifter documentary questions fit vs. fat theory, UC Davis Spotlight, 3.07.08
- USA Weightlifting
One degree: No. 1 fan to softball Olympian
Andrea Duran, who plays third base, was the Pac-10 player of the year for women’s softball, when she finished UCLA in 2007. (Courtesy photo)
Janie Duran, office manager for the UC Kearney Research and Extension Center, will be in the stands watching daughter Andrea compete on the USA Olympic Softball team Aug. 17-22.
A staff member of the UC Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources for 24 years (she was eight months pregnant with the future Olympic contender when she applied for the position at the Fresno County UC center), Duran has been a parental sports backstop since her daughter was 11.
“Andrea was a swimmer before she began softball – we always thought she might go into swimming,” Duran explains. “Her older sister, Dana, played softball so we had Andrea try out so she would be occupied while Dana was playing.”
And thus the fate of Andrea’s sports future was written. She graduated from UCLA in 2007 after playing softball on a full scholarship, finishing her college career as Pac-10 player of the year. Six members of the Duran family (including a good friend) will be in China to watch the games. Watch for Andrea on third base, by the way.
Learn more:
One degree: Five Olympian cyclists and counting
UC Davis alumnus Allen Lim may not have an official role at the Olympics, but you can bet your carbon-fiber wheel fork that top contenders on a variety of national teams have this physiologist to thank for their success.
Lim coaches Team Garmin-Chipotle H30, which is in the midst of the July 5-27 Tour de France. As head coach, Lim designs the training regimen, helping riders understand how to monitor and improve their training— and ultimately their race-day performance.
A number of his team members, who span several nationalities, have been offered slots on Olympic teams. Few have accepted yet, since they are currently focused on the French road race.
Lim’s stable of cyclists includes Americans Christian Vande Velde, David Zabriskie, and Taylor Phinney; Canadian Ryder Hesjedel and New Zealander Julian Dean. Garmin-Chipotle also has top-level cyclists from other countries that haven’t finalized their Olympic plans yet.
Lim earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from UC Davis before getting a doctorate in integrative physiology from the University of Colorado at Boulder.
Learn more:
- Allen Lim’s blog on the Tour de France: “Living the Grind”
- “Allen Lim rides the slipstream,” by Paul Kimmage, The Times of London, 7.13.08
One degree: Track and field alums compete for Olympics
Matt Chisam makes a long jump at an Aggie meet in 2003. (Mark Honbo/UC Davis photo)
Two former UC Davis athletes — decathlete Matt Chisam and distance runner Heather Gibson — competed at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials at Eugene, Ore., with Chisam finishing 15th in his event and Gibson taking 22nd in the 10,000-meter run.
The Aggie All-Americans qualified for the prestigious events, vying for an opportunity to compete later this summer in Beijing, China, at the Olympic Games. But they will not be on the Olympic team since they didn’t finish in the top three slots nor have top qualifying scores.
Just to compete at the Olympic Trials is a mark of distinction for these athletes, points out Mike Robles, assistant athletic director for media relations at UC Davis.
“The Olympics Trials are considered by many as just as strong as the Olympics themselves because of the depth of talent in the U.S.,” Robles says.
Gibson, who holds the UC Davis women’s steeplechase record at 10 minutes, 31.65 seconds, which she set in 2002, was timed in 34:28.00 at the trials.
He earned All-American track honors for UC Davis in the steeplechase in both 2001 and 2002.
Chisam, currently an assistant coach at Harvard, finished 15th in an elite field of decathletes at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials, concluding competition with 7,429 points. His first day was highlighted by a time of 11.45 points in the 100, and, on the second day, scoring 763 points while he went 16 feet, 8.75 inches in the pole vault, earning 941 points.
Chisam, a runner-up in the decathlon at the 2003 NCAA Division II Championships, had a qualifying score of 7,694 points from earlier in June at the Texas Greatest Athlete Decathlon.
One degree: Student Scott Weltz edged out in breaststroke race
Although he captured his best finish ever in the breaststroke competition, UC Davis swimmer Scott Weltz didn’t make the cut in early July during U.S. Olympic Team Time Trials held in Omaha, Neb.
The junior in economics, who did not participate at UC Davis this past academic year in order to train for the Olympics, competed in four events during the first five days of the trials and had the opportunity to swim in the same events with record holders Michael Phelps and Brendan Hansen.
After competing in the 400 free and 400 IM during Sunday’s opening day, Weltz returned to swim the 200 breaststroke on Wednesday and the 200 IM on Thursday. In that race, Weltz’ time of 2:18.98 placed him 38th among the 65 competitors.
Weltz was the first UC Davis Division I swimmer to qualify for the Olympic trials.
One degree: Coaching the Afghanistan National Basketball Team
Mohammad “Mamo” Rafiq, who played briefly for the UC Davis men’s basketball team during the 2002-03 season, was named the head coach of the Afghanistan National Team in 2007, but Afghanistan did not qualify for the Olympic Games.
Two degrees: Support team for the Eugene Olympic Trials
Jon and Deanne Vochatzer have a long history of running national track meets. (Neil Michel/Axiom photo)
Track-and-field coaches Jon and Deanne Vochatzer had their hands full at the Olympic Trials in Oregon, by helping athletes compete for a berth in Beijing.
Working under Mike Riley, the track coach for the University of Oregon, who was in charge of the event, the couple worked more than two solid weeks.
Jon was in charge all of the jumping and throwing events, making sure the competitions ran like clockwork.
Deanne was chief troubleshooter for event crises such as when Olympic medalist Tyson Gay sprained a muscle in his leg and was inundated by the national sports media. Deanne commandeered a security guard and golf cart to help Gay make a get-away.
Both UC Davis faculty members have national and international experience in running such events. Deanne served as director of competition for the 2000 track and field Olympic trials in Sacramento and was inducted into the U.S. Track Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2002.
Deanne has the distinction of having been named the head coach of the U.S. women’s track and field team at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta.
Connected: Debbie Meyer, our alumna with three gold medals
Of course, UC Davis’ all-time alumna star in the swimming competition — in fact for any sport — is Debbie Meyer, who won the 200m, 400m and 800m freestyle swimming events in the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City.
As a 16-year-old student at Rio Americano High School in Sacramento, Meyer became the first swimmer to win three individual gold medals in one Olympics.
She later finished her degree at UC Davis and now runs the Debbie Meyer Swim School in Carmichael. She, too, attended the Eugene Olympic swimming trials earlier this month.
Connected: Rugby Olympian ‘Babe’ Slater
It is true that Colby “Babe” Slater, class of 1917 and our first alumnus to bring home the gold, passed away in 1965.
But if you want to get a feel for the excitement and prestige of Olympics, just go to the trophy case inside the front door of the Pavilion at the Activities and Recreation Center on campus.
On the home page: Scott Weltz, who took last year off from competition at UC Davis to train, swam his personal best in the breaststroke at the Olympics Trials in Nebraska but did not qualify for a berth in Beijing. (Wayne Tilcock/Davis Enterprise photo)
There you can gaze at the two gold medals that Slater earned: the first in 1920, when he played on the first rugby team to represent the U.S. at the Olympics, and a second in 1924 after he captained the Olympic rugby team that beat the heavily favored French team.
We proudly display these medals from Slater, our first inductee into the Cal Aggie Athletic Hall of Fame, as first our connection to this prestigious competition for the world’s greatest athletes.