Bryant University will be represented in the 2016 Summer Olympics as men's swimming and diving rising junior Ben Schulte (Tumon, Guam) will represent Guam in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, next month.
Schulte will be competing in his second Olympic Games and will give the Bulldogs a representative for the second-consecutive Summer Olympics. Steph Reilly, Bryant's former cross country/track and field head coach, competed for Ireland in the London Olympics. In his first appearance, Schulte finished 25th in the men's 10k open water swim.
"I think back to the opening ceremony in London and remember how excited I was right before the Guam delegation walked out into the stadium during the athletes' march," Schulte said. "It's the biggest rush I've ever had and I'm so excited to feel that again. All the athletes live together in the Olympic Village, so there's a good chance that I'll run into people like Usain Bolt and Michael Phelps and all these other incredible athletes. My race will be on the first day of competition, so I'll have the rest of the Games to enjoy and watch the other sports. I'll be able to watch the best athletes in the world make history from the front row. You can't take it lightly. I don't really have any words to express how much I'm looking forward to it, and I've never been more motivated in practice."
Schulte is heading to Rio as one of two swimmers from Guam. He earned his spot thanks to a universality invite that allows a country to send one male and one female swimmer if no one makes a qualifying time. Schulte nearly qualified, posting a top time of 1:03.42 in the 100 breast, 0.73 seconds shy of the 1:02.69 qualifying time. He scored 754 FINA points to beat out Jaggers Stephens, who will be attending Brown University in the Fall, for the invite.
In two years at Bryant, Schulte has set the standard for years to come. He has won six individual gold medals at the MAAC Championships in his two years and was a part of seven school records this past February. Schulte was named the MAAC Outstanding Swimmer of the Meet as a freshman and has qualified for the NCAA "B" cut on three different occasions.
"I'm so proud to be able to say that Bryant University helped me get to this point in my athletic career," Schulte said. "I hope the fact that coming from Bryant and competing in the Olympics brings more prestige to our athletics, and that bigger and better athletes will put us on their list of schools. I've come a long way in the two years that I've been at Bryant, and I'm swimming times and achieving results I never thought I could do. I attribute that not just to the awesome coaching and athletic staff we have, but also to the dynamic we have as a university as a whole. You can't excel athletically if you aren't excelling academically and socially, and I can confidently say that these past two years have been the best two years of my life in all three aspects."
"And of course, I'm always so proud to swim for Guam," Schulte added. "My family and friends, and even people I don't know, are so supportive and are always messaging me a "congratulations" or "keep it up" on Facebook whenever they hear about what I'm doing. There's so much support and encouragement from the people back home, and I hope to bring pride to our island when I'm in Rio."
For the Bryant community, Schulte's appearance in the Olympics will add another exclamation point to an already outstanding year.
"We are beyond ecstatic for Ben to compete in the 2016 Olympics," head swimming and diving coach Katie Cameron said. "Participating in the Olympic Games is something most people can only dream of! He is a very disciplined, hard-working student-athlete that we are so proud to call a Bulldog. I am elated to have his hard work and patience pay off. The staff and team wish him best of luck in Rio!"
"We couldn't be more excited for Ben to compete in the Olympics this summer," Bryant University Director of Athletics Bill Smith added. "He is an outstanding student-athlete, an exceptional person and we know he will represent this University in a way that will make all current and former Bulldogs proud."
