University of Queensland athletes Danielle Prince, Caitlin Sargent, Dan Young and Amy Smith are all set to start their campaigns at the 2011 World Summer University Games which open in Shenzhen, China tonight.
UQ Sport and Recreation Manager Adin Hewat said UQ should be proud to have such high- calibre athletes representing them at the international meet, which runs until August 25, and is the second largest elite multi-sport event in the world.
“For these students to represent the University and Australia is an honour, and they are on par with other world renowned athletes such as Steve Moneghetti, Nathan Rickard, and Jade Edmistone who have all participated at previous Universiade,” Mr Hewat said.
“As an elite athlete-friendly university, UQ has relevant policies and procedures in place, supported by a partnership with our state and national academy and institute of sport, to ensure our athletes can achieve their best in both their sporting and academic arenas.”
Rhythmic gymnast Danielle Prince, a Commonwealth Games gold medallist in Delhi, will be hoping to put in a strong performance in the lead up to next year’s Olympic Games.
In the pool, Dan Young will be looking to cap off his university sporting career with a successful meet with the water polo team, as will swimmer Amy Smith who has had some outstanding results both nationally and internationally. Caitlin Sargent will be making her international debut as the national 100m, 200m and 400m university champion.
The World Summer University Games is regarded as an important lead in to the 2012 London Olympics with more than 150 Australian competing in 16 different sports. The opening ceremony commences at 10pm local time and can be viewed live online.
Media: JP Crawford at UQ Sport (07 3346 7518 jpc@uqs.com.au)
