CBU’s History of Olympic Excellence
8/6/2021 2:30:00 PM | General, Women's Volleyball, Swimming and Diving, Cross Country & Track
Six Lancers have combined to appear at a total of 10 Olympic Games
RIVERSIDE - As the world currently has focused its attention on the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, albeit a year late due to the COVID-19 pandemic, California Baptist University Athletics looks back at its Olympic history. It's a reminder of the Lancers – past and present – who have experienced the Olympic Games.
Six Lancers have combined to appear at a total of 10 Olympic Games. CBU swimming has the richest Olympic history of any Lancer program, with a total of three individuals having competed on the highest world stage: swimmers Brandon Schuster (2017-current) and Felix Sutanto (2002-03); and Assistant Coach Lisa Siregar. The track program has had two athletes compete: Milton Browne (1996-99) and Kris Bowditch (1999). And CBU women's volleyball also had a two-time Olympian in Yue-Ming Li (1997-99).
Most recently, Schuster swam for his home country of Samoa at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Schuster then joined the Lancers in the middle of the 2016-17 season and has continued to be a standout swimmer for Samoa on the world stage, although Samoa did not send any swimmers to the 2020 Olympics.
Sutanto swam for Indonesia at the 2000 and 2004 Olympics. He came to CBU during the 2001-02 school year after spending two years at Golden West College. His two years at CBU were record-breaking, as he was named the Men's Most Outstanding Swimmer at the NAIA Championships in both 2002 and 2003. He was a 16-time All-American who won six individual titles (100 back, 200 back, and 200 individual medley both years) and was part of two first-place relay teams.
Siregar is one of the longest-tenured coaches at CBU and first came to Riverside to join head coach Rick Rowland's staff in 2003. She served as the National Team coach for her native Indonesia and led the team at the 1992, 1996, and 2000 Olympics. She was a swimmer on the Indonesian National Team from 1966-73 and set several Indonesian swimming records that have since been broken.
Browne competed in the 800m for Barbados at the 2000 Olympics. Browne ran for CBU during the 1996-99 seasons and was inducted into the Lancers Athletics Hall of Fame in 2012. He was a member of the 1999 NAIA Indoor Track and Field National Championships team and graduated holding 11 CBU records. He finished as a five-time NAIA national champion and seven-time NAIA All-American.
Bowditch ran for CBU during the 1999 season and participated with Browne at the 2000 Olympics in the 5000m for Great Britain. Bowditch is mentioned 18 times in the CBU track record book and holds six records that still stand to this day. He was a member of the 1999 NAIA Indoor Track and Field National Championship team and was a two-time NAIA All-American.
Li has the honor of being CBU's first-ever Olympian. She competed at the 1988 and 1992 Olympics for China and even helped her team take bronze in 1988. She was one of the most dominating players in the NAIA for three seasons with the Lancers. She was an NAIA All-American first-teamer in 1999 as CBU reached the quarterfinals of the NAIA Tournament. She was a second-team All-American in 1997, as the Lancers also reached the national tournament.
2019 Cohort of World Class Athletes from China
In the fall of 2019, the Sports Administration of China partnered with CBU to provide world-class Chinese athletes the opportunity to pursue a Master of Science in Kinesiology with a concentration in Sport Management. Among those world-class athletes, ten participated in the Olympic Games:
Six Lancers have combined to appear at a total of 10 Olympic Games. CBU swimming has the richest Olympic history of any Lancer program, with a total of three individuals having competed on the highest world stage: swimmers Brandon Schuster (2017-current) and Felix Sutanto (2002-03); and Assistant Coach Lisa Siregar. The track program has had two athletes compete: Milton Browne (1996-99) and Kris Bowditch (1999). And CBU women's volleyball also had a two-time Olympian in Yue-Ming Li (1997-99).
Most recently, Schuster swam for his home country of Samoa at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Schuster then joined the Lancers in the middle of the 2016-17 season and has continued to be a standout swimmer for Samoa on the world stage, although Samoa did not send any swimmers to the 2020 Olympics.
Sutanto swam for Indonesia at the 2000 and 2004 Olympics. He came to CBU during the 2001-02 school year after spending two years at Golden West College. His two years at CBU were record-breaking, as he was named the Men's Most Outstanding Swimmer at the NAIA Championships in both 2002 and 2003. He was a 16-time All-American who won six individual titles (100 back, 200 back, and 200 individual medley both years) and was part of two first-place relay teams.
Siregar is one of the longest-tenured coaches at CBU and first came to Riverside to join head coach Rick Rowland's staff in 2003. She served as the National Team coach for her native Indonesia and led the team at the 1992, 1996, and 2000 Olympics. She was a swimmer on the Indonesian National Team from 1966-73 and set several Indonesian swimming records that have since been broken.
Browne competed in the 800m for Barbados at the 2000 Olympics. Browne ran for CBU during the 1996-99 seasons and was inducted into the Lancers Athletics Hall of Fame in 2012. He was a member of the 1999 NAIA Indoor Track and Field National Championships team and graduated holding 11 CBU records. He finished as a five-time NAIA national champion and seven-time NAIA All-American.
Bowditch ran for CBU during the 1999 season and participated with Browne at the 2000 Olympics in the 5000m for Great Britain. Bowditch is mentioned 18 times in the CBU track record book and holds six records that still stand to this day. He was a member of the 1999 NAIA Indoor Track and Field National Championship team and was a two-time NAIA All-American.
Li has the honor of being CBU's first-ever Olympian. She competed at the 1988 and 1992 Olympics for China and even helped her team take bronze in 1988. She was one of the most dominating players in the NAIA for three seasons with the Lancers. She was an NAIA All-American first-teamer in 1999 as CBU reached the quarterfinals of the NAIA Tournament. She was a second-team All-American in 1997, as the Lancers also reached the national tournament.
2019 Cohort of World Class Athletes from China
In the fall of 2019, the Sports Administration of China partnered with CBU to provide world-class Chinese athletes the opportunity to pursue a Master of Science in Kinesiology with a concentration in Sport Management. Among those world-class athletes, ten participated in the Olympic Games:
- Deng Linlin, a two-time Olympic Champion, won gold in the 2008 Beijing Olympics with the women's gymnastics team all-around and again in the 2012 London Olympics on the balance beam. Linlin was appointed captain of the Chinese women's gymnastics team for the 2012 Olympics.
- Yuqing Bao participated in the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, placing 11th overall in the group rhythmic gymnastics competition.
- Yue Cao swam in the women's 400m freestyle event at the 2016 Olympics.
- Xiaoli Chen competed in women's basketball at the 2008 Olympics (fourth place) and 2012 Olympics (sixth place).
- Xuesong Gu represented in archery at the 2016 Olympics with a 33rd overall individual finish and a fourth-place ranking in team competition.
- Shaohua Huang competed in swimming at the 2004 Athens Olympics (100m freestyle, 4x100m freestyle relay, 4x200m freestyle relay) and the 2008 Olympics (4x100m freestyle relay).
- Ruixue Jing earned a silver medal in women's wrestling, middleweight freestyle, at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
- Qiong Wu played on the women's field hockey team at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, finishing in ninth place.
- Jingnan Zhao participated in women's rhythmic gymnastics at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games with an 11th place finish.
- Yudiao Zhao earned a silver medal as a member of the women's field hockey team at the 2008 Olympic Games and competed at both the 2012 and 2016 Olympics.
Players Mentioned
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