Aug. 24, 2008

BEIJING - California came away from the 2008 Summer Olympic Games with a new medal record and a host of memories to add to the Golden Bears' already storied history in the Olympics. More than 40 past, present and future Cal athletes competed in China and, led by Bears swimming legend Natalie Coughlin, they combined to collect 17 Olympic medals. Coughlin became the most decorated U.S. women's Olympian ever by winning an unprecedented six medals in one Olympiad, while former Cal All-American Jason Kidd capped the Bears' presence in Beijing with a flourish by winning a gold medal with the U.S. men's basketball team.

In addition to the Bears competing in China, three current Cal coaches - women's swimming head coach Teri McKeever, field hockey head coach Shellie Onstead and first-year men's crew coach Mike Teti - earned spots on the U.S. staffs of their respective sports, while one Cal assistant coach - track and field's Magdalena Lewy - ran the marathon for the U.S. women in Beijing. Teti was the U.S. men's rowing head coach, McKeever was a U.S. women's swimming assistant and Onstead was a U.S. field hockey assistant.

Former Cal crew star Laurel Korholz was an assistant coach for the U.S. women's rowing team and former Bear Matt Macedo was the head coach of the Trinidad & Tobago men's swimming team.

The Bears' athletes won most of their medals in the water, from the "Water Cube" to the Shunyi Rowing-Canoeing Park to the Yingdong Natatorium. Of Cal's medalists, only Kidd and Cal alumna Vicky Galindo in softball did not compete in or on the water.

The National Aquatics Center, nicknamed the Water Cube, produced some of the Games' most compelling stories in the first half of the Games and was where Coughlin ran her career Olympic medal total to 11 by adding one gold, two silver and three bronze medals. She trails former U.S. star Jenny Thompson and Beijing teammate Dara Torres for the all-time U.S. women's swimming medal total of 12.

A five-time medalist in Athens four years ago, Coughlin claimed her first Beijing medal after leading off the United States' 4x100-meter freestyle relay in the Aug. 10 final. The U.S. foursome posted an American record of 3:34.33 to claim the silver medal behind the Dutch team's Olympic-record 3:33.76. Emily Silver, who completed her Cal career last spring, also medaled for Cal in the relay after swimming in the 4x100-free qualifying heats.

A third Cal women's swimmer - Slovenian Sara Isakovic, a freshman in 2008-09 -garnered silver, this time in the 200-meter free final on Aug. 12.

Coughlin won her lone gold medal of the 2008 Games in her signature event, the 100-meter backstroke. Despite seeing her world record fall to South Africa's Kirsty Coventry in the semifinal round, Coughlin defeated silver-medalist Coventry and the rest of the field with an American-record 58.96 in the final.

On Aug. 13, Coughlin claimed bronze in the 200-meter individual medley in a time of 2:10.34 to edge U.S. teammate Katie Hoff. One day later, Coughlin swam the second leg of the U.S. 4x200-freestyle relay, which earned bronze in an American record of 7:46.33.

Coughlin nabbed her third bronze by swimming an American-record 53.39 in the 100-free final on Aug. 15. She finished her Beijing run with silver in the 4x100-medley relay, as the United States swam an American record 3:53.30 in the Aug. 17 final.

Nathan Adrian, a sophomore at Cal, was part of a world record as part of the U.S. men's quartet that swam a 3:12.23 in the 4x100-free relay preliminary round. He took home gold when the U.S. team that swam the Aug. 11 relay final won in a world-record 3:08.24.

Former Bears star Milorad Cavic was part of the one of the most memorable events of the Beijing Games when he narrowly lost by one hundredth of a second in the men's 100-butterfly final on Aug. 16. Cavic, who had set an Olympic record of 50.76 in the 100-fly semifinal round, swam a European-record 50.59 in the final to claim silver. He lost the gold to a new Olympic-record time of 50.58 posted by eight-time Beijing gold medalist Michael Phelps. Cavic had posted faster times than the busy Phelps in both the 100-fly prelim (50.76 to 50.87) and semifinal (50.92 to 50.97) rounds.

Former Bears produced three medals in rowing, with Scott Frandsen collecting the first, silver in the men's pair final on Aug. 16. Frandsen and partner David Calder led the first half of the race, but Australia's boat edged the Canadians at the finish by 2.11 seconds, 6:37.44-6:39.55.

In the penultimate race of the rowing competition, former Bear Erin Cafaro won gold as the bow of the U.S. women's eight, which was the first U.S. crew to win the Olympic women's eight since 1984. The United States led through 1,500 meters but posted just the fourth-fastest time over the last 500 meters and had to hold off the Netherlands down the stretch for gold, 6:05.34-6:07.22. Cal had another connection to the winning U.S. eight, as coxswain Mary Whipple is the twin sister of Cal women's crew assistant coach Sarah Whipple.

The final race featured another winning former Bear, as Jake Wetzel, in the four seat, and the Canadian men's eight won gold in 5:23.89. Canada snapped a 35-year streak in which the reigning world champion in the eight did not win Olympic gold; Wetzel's Canada boat won the 2007 world championship in the eight.

Cal women's athletes won their last medals on Aug. 21, as Galindo and the U.S. softball team lost to Japan in the final, 3-1, to earn silver and the U.S. women's water polo team, with former Bears Heather Petri and Elsie Windes, lost to the Dutch, 9-8. In the last Olympic softball tournament for the foreseeable future, Galindo hit a pinch-hit single to open the bottom of the seventh inning, but that proved to be the last U.S. hit in the Olympics - and perhaps the last hit in Olympic softball, period - as Galindo was left stranded at first at Fengtai Softball Field.

Both Petri and Windes started the water polo final, with Petri winning the opening sprint for the United States. Windes took the United States' second to last shot with three seconds remaining in the game, but her shots was saved.

On Aug. 24, the final day of competition, Kidd captained the U.S. team to an entertaining 118-107 gold-medal win over Spain at the Beijing Olympic Basketball Gymnasium and became the 13th U.S. men's player to win multiple basketball gold medals in the Olympics. Kidd also won gold in the 2000 Sydney Olympics.