Bruin Briefs: UCLA in Rio 2016 Edition

As UCLA sends an impressive number of athletes to the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, Go Joe Bruin breaks down the sports they will be competing in.

UCLA will be sending 30 athletes to the 2016 Rio Olympics in Brazil. This extraordinary number of contestants should not be a surprise to any, as UCLA Bruins have made an appearance in the Summer Olympics every year since 1925.

UCLA Athletics reports that, in total, 423 Bruins have participated in the Summer Olympics, accruing a remarkable 253 medals—including 128 gold. This might be one of the reasons why Fox Sports ranked UCLA as the second-best college to produce the best Team USA Olympic athletes, just after Stanford.

As you prepare to watch the Olympics this week, make sure you check out the Bruins that will be competing in Rio this year:

Badminton

Howard Shu (Class of ’13) will be representing Team USA in the men’s team, while Jamie Subandhi (Class of ’11) and Iris Wang (Current Student) will playing for the women’s team. Shu will make his first appearance in the singles Group J on August 12th. Subandhi will debut in the mixed doubles Group D with Phillip Chew on August 11th. Wang will play her first game in the singles Group E that same day.

Basketball

2016 UCLA Graduate Nirra Fields will be representing Team Canada in this year’s Olympics. Fields was drafted this year by the Phoenix Mercury, making her the first UCLA player drafted by the WNBA since 2008. Canada’s first game is against Spain on August 14th.

Beach Volleyball

The Bruins will be well-represented in beach volleyball as Lauren Fendrick (Class of ’04) will be playing alongside partner Brooke Sweat. Fendrick’s name made the rounds in social media recently as USC Athletics disingenuously tried to claim her as an athlete. Although Fendrick attended USC Law, she never played a game as a USC athlete. Oh, and she does not practice law. Nice try, USC.

Ummmmm... 🤔

Matches played:
@UCLAAthletics: 127
@USC_Athletics: 0

Congrats Lauren! #UCLAOlympians https://t.co/ln2ZSCarwI
— UCLA Athletics (@UCLAAthletics) July 1, 2016

The duo’s first game is against Poland on August 7.

Golf

Giulia Sergas (attended) and Maria Jose “Mariajo” Uribe (attended) will be representing Teams Italy and Colombia, respectively. Both golfers will see the course bright and early on August 17.

Gymnastics

Incoming student Madison Kocian will be rocking the Team USA colors in the Olympics as she hopes to bring a gold medal home. Kocian will be competing in all four women’s gymnastics events, but she will see action first on the uneven bars on August 7th.

Rowing

Meaghan Volker (Class of ’14) will be suiting up for Team Australia tomorrow as they face Canada. Volker was a valuable player during her time at UCLA. In her junior year, she helped the Bruins to their best-ever finish at the NCAA Championships, placing 9th overall.

Rugby

Making an appearance for Team USA, Kelly Griffin, a 2008 graduate, will play against Fiji on Saturday 6th. Griffin’s selection to the Olympics marks the first time a UCLA Club Sports player has been picked to play for the red, white, and blue in the Games.

Soccer

The Bruins will send not one, but five soccer players representing four countries. Incoming students

Jessie Fleming

and

Mal Pugh

will represent Teams Canada and USA, respectively. Pugh will be joined by 2014 graduate and

Western New York Flash

player

Samantha Mewis

Rosie White

, also a 2014 graduate, will be suiting up for

Team New Zealand

, while Goalkeeper Coach

Aline Reis

will play for

Team Brazil

All of these Bruins will see action tomorrow. USA will be playing New Zealand in its first match.

Swimming

Ting Wen Quah (Class of ’14) will be joining Team Singapore this week. Her first event is women’s 100m butterfly on August 6. Quah currently holds the UCLA records in the 200m freestyle and the 100m butterfly. She was also named the Most Valuable Swimmer for UCLA in her last two years as a Bruin.

Tennis

The Bruins will have two tennis players in Rio with Marcin Matkowski (attended), who will represent Team Poland, and Jean-Julien Rojer (attended), who will play for Team Netherlands. Both players will start in double’s play on August 6th.

Track & Field

Jun 8, 2016; Eugene, OR, USA; Nicholas Scarvelis of UCLA places fourth in the shot put at 66-2 1/4 (20.17m) during the 2016 NCAA Track and Field championships at Hayward Field. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports /

UCLA will have four track and field athletes suiting up for three countries. In the javelin throw, Brittany Borman (attended) will represent Team USA on August 16th. Meb Keflezighi will be running for Team USA on the men’s marathon on August 21st. Keflezighi, a 1998 graduate, won four NCAA championships competing for the Bruins. Tori Peña (Class of ’10) will compete for Team Ireland in the pole vault, starting August 16th. Finally, current student and track and field star Nicholas Scarvelis will be throwing for Greece in shot put. His first event is August 18th.