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August 17, 2000
AUBURN- Head Auburn swimming coach David Marsh was selected as one of three assistants for the 2000 Men's U.S. Olympic Team in Sydney, Australia. This will be Marsh's second coaching stint with the U.S. team as he was also an assistant on the '96 Olympic team in Atlanta. Mark Schubert from the University of Southern California will serve as the men's head coach while current Texas head coach Eddie Reese, also a former Auburn head coach, and Michigan head coach Jon Urbanchek, round out the assistants staff.
"Of course it is a great honor to be asked to serve on the staff of the Olympic team. The down side is that I will miss 40 days or so with my family so this was a big decision for me," Marsh said. "I was told that my coaching versatility and wide variety of experiences was the reason I was selected and the deciding committee felt that was what the team needed."
Marsh will join three of his swimmers on the team as well as, watch five of his former swimmers compete for their respective countries. During his tenure at Auburn, Marsh has led the men's team to two NCAA titles and six SEC titles and has coached ten Olympians including AU's first female Olympian, Rada Owen.
"As for the competition, this will probably be the biggest challenge for U.S. swimming since 1956. The U.S. has won the medal battle ever since then and this year will definitely be a challenge. For the men, Australia will most likely be the big opponent while for the women, there will be more of an international challenge. There are several different countries that could challenge the women's team in the medal race."
Stanford's Richard Quick will lead the women's U.S. team and he will be assisted by Georgia's Jack Bauerle and Peter Banks, head coach of the club team Brandon Blue Wave and Dave Salo, coach of club team Irvine Novaquatics.
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