2000 Olympics, With a Wright State Flavor
9/6/2000 12:00:00 PM | General
That dream is about to come true for three athletes who have ties with the Wright State University Athletic Department: one is an assistant swimming coach, one is a graduate assistant with the Compliance Office and one is a current student-athlete.
Leonard Ngoma will represent the Raiders as well as his country of Zambia this fall in Australia. Though he has spent three years in the United States--two at a high school in Florida and one at WSU--he still remembers how tough it was back home.
"Coming to Wright State has been great for me. It has allowed me the chance to swim and pursue my degree," Ngoma said. "And now this chance to be an Olympian will make for great memories."
Ngoma, the first current Wright State athlete to participate in an Olympic game, had another first last winter when he opened his window blind and saw snow for the first time. Holder of his nation's 100 and 200 breaststroke records, he had heard about it and seen it through television but had never experienced the actual touch of snow. This wasn't as much of a shock to him as the overall cultural transition he went through when he first arrived here.
"The snow was something I was actually looking forward to since I had never seen it before so it was special," Ngoma said. "The shock was the first time I came here. I might as well have gone to Mars. The differences are great from my home country but I have been able to adjust and everyone here at Wright State has been friendly and helpful to me."
Sion Brinn, a newly hired assistant swimming coach, will be making his second Olympic appearance after representing Jamaica in the 1996 games. With his dual citizenship, the Louisiana State graduate will represent his father's homeland of England in Australia this fall.
England's top swimmer in the 50 and 100 butterfly, he has been training for the past four years with the LSU squad and conducting clinics throughout the world. The 26-year-old is looking forward to what probably will be his final Olympics as well as coming to Wright State and starting his coaching career.
"The Olympics has been a great experience and the second time around has added flavor to it since I know what to expect so I can relax more and enjoy the atmosphere more," Brinn said. "I have been able to have some tremendous memories and I hope I can share that Olympic-type of enthusiasm with the Wright State team."
The final WSU connection at the Olympics will be graduate student Marieme Lo. Lo, who works in the Compliance Office of the Athletic Department, will play basketball for the Senegal squad for her second Olympic appearance. After a stellar college career at Central State University, the 24-year-old has set her eyes on the future. A 1998 graduate, she was named the NAIA National Player of the Year in 1998 as well as being named to many scholar-athlete teams.
And finally, we can't mention the Olympics without a word about 1964 Olympic Gold Medalist Bob Schul. Schul, head cross country and women's track coach at Wright State, came to national and world prominence when he broke five American and one world record in 1964 and 1965. The West Milton native became the first American to win the 5,000 meters race in the Olympic games held in Mexico.
