Top 10 Colleges Represented at the 2012 London Olympics

 

Over the past few weeks many of our friends and family have asked us which university is sending the most Olympians to London this summer. Many of us in office assumed either Stanford or UCLA would be the top pick because they send a high volume of swimmers and gymnasts to the games.

To our surprise, neither of these schools are in the top 2 for this years competition. As you will see, the Pac-12 and SEC complete a near sweep of the top-10 schools on the list. So without further adieu, here is the official list of universities sending the most Olympic athletes and coaches to the London Olympics.

 

1) USC - USC leads this years Olympic games sending an astounding 44 Olympians to the London games. USC is making the biggest impact on the swimming and diving competition, sending the majority of their athletes to compete in these aquatic competitions. USC's most notable athlete competing in the London games is sprinter Allyson Felix who is considered the heavy favorite to take home the 200m gold.

 

 

2) CAL - Headlined by swimmer Natalie Coughlin and soccer player Alex Morgan, CAL is sending a whopping 42 athletes to this years games. Like USC, CAL is making a big splash in the swimming and diving competitions, sending about 1/3 of their competitors to compete in aquatic sports.

 

 

3) Stanford - Stanford just narrowly comes in third, sending 40 Olympians to London this summer. What makes Stanford more unique than the first two schools is that they are far more diversified in the events they are sending athletes to. Stanford has plenty of athletes competing in swimming, water polo, gymnastics and rowing. The most notable Stanford athlete is 2-time gold medal winner in beach volleyball, Keri Walsh.

 

 

4) Florida - Just short behind Stanford, Florida is sending 39 athletes to compete this summer. The Florida Gators boast one of the most star studded Olympic classes, featuring the likes of soccer player Abby Wambach, swimmer Ryan Lochte, and former running back Jeff Demps who will compete in the 4x100 men's sprinting relay.

 

 

 

5) UCLA - The UCLA Bruins continue the Pac-12's dominance in sending athletes to London. 29 Bruins will represent UCLA at the games mostly in track & field and in water polo. The most notable Bruins in London are basketball players Kevin Love and Russell Westbrook.

 

 

 

6) Auburn - Of the 28 athletes representing the Auburn Tigers this summer, only 3 of them will be representing the United States this summer. Many of the athletes competing from Auburn will be representing Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago and Brazil. All of their athletes are competing either in track & field or swimming  events.

 

 

 

7) Georgia - While Georgia is sending 28 athletes to compete in London, virtually all of them are athletes you have never heard of. All of them are competing in swimming, diving and track events and the majority of them are competing for foreign nations.

 

 

 

8) Washington - Lead by women's soccer goaltender Hope Solo, the Washington Huskies will be represented by 24 athletes in the Olympics. While UW is sending a bunch of athletes to compete in track and swimming, 11 of their athletes will compete in the rowing events.

 

 

 

9) Texas A&M - The Aggies will be represented this summer in London with 24 athletes, but almost all of them will be representing countries other than the USA. Almost all of their athletes competing will be participating in track & field events.

 

 

10) Texas - The only school on this top 10 list not in the Pac-12 or SEC, the Texas will have 23 participants representing the Longhorns in London. The Horns will be most prominently represented by stud basketball player Kevin Durant and the "worlds fastest" woman Sanya Richards-Ross who will compete in the 200m, 400m, 4x400m relay pool.

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