COLUMBUS, Ohio – Junior swimmer Niksa Roki has made the Croatian Olympic swimming team. The Zagreb, Croatia native swam a personal best time of 4:25.40 in the 400 individual medley at a meet in Zagreb Saturday (June 21) to earn his chance to compete at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.
“It is just an unbelievable accomplishment for Niksa and I am so happy for him,” Bill Wadley, Ohio State men’s swimming coach said. “He called me three times this morning. We were both in tears.”
Roki just missed qualifying for his country’s Olympic team when he swam a 4:28.1 time at the Toyota Grand Prix in April at the McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion. He shattered the standard in Zagreb, finishing more than a second-and-a-half below the 4:27.00 time needed to make the Croatian team. His time is the fastest for a Croatian swimmer in the 400 IM.
“This is such a special moment in a young person’s life,” Wadley said. “Words cannot describe how happy I am for this young man.”
Roki is the 11th Ohio State Buckeye to earn a spot on a Summer Olympics team. The list of Buckeyes/former Buckeyes heading to Beijing includes:
- Siobhan Byrne – Ireland (Fencing)
- Itai Chammah – Israel (Swimming)
- Kristi DeVries – Netherlands (Softball)
- Gulsah Gunenc – Turkey (Swimming)
- Kate Hooven – United States (Synchronized Swimming)
- Becky Kim – United States (Synchronized Swimming)
- Devin Mullings – Bahamas (Tennis)
- Jason Rogers – United States (Fencing)
- Niksa Roki – Croatia (Swimming)
- Katie Smith – United States (Basketball)
- Hannah Thompson – United States (Fencing)
The number of Buckeyes in Beijing could grow to 12 Monday. Published reports indicate that former basketball star Michael Redd, now an all-star guard with the Milwaukee Bucks, will be named to the U.S. Olympic basketball team at a news conference Monday in Chicago.
####
