Dec. 5, 2001

FORT WORTH, Texas - TCU head swimming coach Richard Sybesma will serve as a member of the Salt Lake 2002 Olympic torch relay when the torch passes through the TCU campus on Wednesday, December 12. Sybesma, who will run in memory of former TCU swimmer Matt Walters (1988-92), will carry the torch north on University Drive from Berry Street to Cantey Street. The run will take place between approximately 8:58 a.m. and 9:02 a.m.

This will be Sybesma's second Olympic experience as he served as the Nicaraguan Olympic swim coach in 1996. Sybesma traveled with Walter Soza to the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Ga.

According to Sybesma, who was asked to carry the torch by Walters' widow, Darlene, who works for the Salt Lake City Olympic Committee, "It's a great honor, not just to run in the torch relay, but to do it one of your ex-swimmer's memory, that just adds so much more special meaning to it."

The torch, which weighs three pounds and is 33 inches long, will be carried by about 11,500 torchbearers over 13,500 miles across the United States during the 65 days of the relay. Each torchbearer carries the flame approximately 0.2 miles, with the flame traveling an average of 208 miles during a 12-hour day.