This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Rio de Janeiro – With another impressive showing in swimming Saturday night, the Pac-12 became an even stronger country in the 2016 Olympics. That's "country" in quotation marks, based on the current and former athletes of Pac-12 schools competing for various countries in the Games. Through eight days of medal events, Pac-12 athletes and alumni claim 17 gold, eight silver and eight bronze medals. The total of 33 ranks behind only the USA with 60 and China with 41 – and the Pac-12 is a huge part of the USA's success. In London in 2012, the conference's medal count was 45 (including 19 gold). Germany was fourth among actual countries with 44. So history shows the Pac-12 won't be able to maintain this medal-pace in the second half of the Games, because swimming is over. Wow, though. It was an amazing performance in the pool. California's Ryan Murphy and Stanford's Simone Manuel were part of winning relay teams Saturday night, with Manuel anchoring the women's medley team that earned the USA's 1,000th gold medal in Summer Games history. Swimming star Katie Ledecky soon will enroll at Stanford, so she contributed four gold medals to the Pac-12's total. "What an incredible experience it is to coach in this league, against the best of the best," said Joe Dykstra, the University of Utah's head swimming coach. – Kurt Kragthorpe