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Friday, March 29
The Indiana Daily Student

sports

IU athletes compete in 2000 Olympics

With the first Olympics of the new millennium officially beginning today, some local athletes and a professor ' who is gaining national attention for his stand against a new trend in swimming ' will be paying close attention.\nFormer IU softball player Michelle Venturella, junior diver Sara Reiling, former IU track and field athlete De Dee Nathan and IU assistant wrestling coach Charles Burton are among thousands of athletes reaching for gold at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia.\nThe open ceremonies are televised on NBC at 7:30 p.m.\nEarlier this year, other IU standouts had their eyes on the Olympics. In August, seniors Will Bernhardt, Joe Trent and Don Gold, sophomore Kevin Euans and recent IU graduate Ken Ackermann participated in the Olympic swimming trials in Indianapolis. Seniors Jen Cristy and Amanda Noblet, junior Susan Woessner and sophomore Anne Williams dove for their chance for the women's swimming team.\nThough he didn't go as far as he wanted, Bernhardt said the opportunity was what mattered.\n"It was a big time learning experience," he said. "I got to see a lot of swimmers … the best athletes in the country compete. Just by watching them compete, I learned different techniques to use like body position in the water. Being around them was a learning experience." \nKinesiology professor Joel Stager, will also watch from a personal and professional viewpoint. He has gained national attention for his stance on the swim gear athletes will wear. He appeared Thursday night on "The News Hour with Jim Lehrer." During the Games, swimmers will tout full-body suits. While many believe the suits help with performance, Stager said no scientific evidence has backed the manufacturers' claims.\n"If this was a good thing for the sport, then my personal opinion would be different," he said. "Until someone provides evidence that the technology works, then I think it's almost dishonest of the manufactures when they are hoisting it on the swimming community."\nStager said he's not against the full-body suit, but that he wants sound evidence the suits helps. \n"If I put it in an unbiased report, the approach we took was to determine whether or not we could find any evidence to see if they are effected in performance," he said. "We don't have evidence they actually worked. The exceptions had to do with the swimmer, not with what they were wearing. The manufacturers are making claims that have no scientific base. I think it's more marketing hype than anything."\nAthletes also noticed the attention for the 2000 Olympics is less than it was in 1996 when the Games were in Atlanta. \n"Since it's not at home, in the states (people are paying less attention)," Woessner said. "I didn't (get the chance to travel to Sydney) but I would love to go watch it; it would be really exciting. Hopefully the United States will be as successful as they were in Atlanta."\nBernhardt said although the Sydney Olympics haven't been as widely publicized as the Atlanta Games in 1996, he said he still has high expectations people will tune in.\n"I think they still will be (watching)," he said. "I really can't say. I love the Olympics. It's the biggest event for our sport. It's not as public as the Atlanta Games. It's a different country. I plan on listening to the Olympics over the Internet over broadcast.com.\n"Everything I've heard, is it's supposedly the best Olympics yet. Just from venues they are participating in, I know swimming will be one of the best events ever. I'm just curious to see these things and find out what they are talking about. Everything is going to be that much better and that much bigger." \nGold agreed and said since the Games won't be broadcast live, watching them will be a challenge, but he said he'll still watch.\n"It's going to be tough, because NBC isn't going to broadcast live," he said. "I'm going to try and stay awake"

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