Ed Moses wasn't the only Cavalier in the pool at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney last fall. Competing in her second Olympics for her native Macedonia, sophomore distance swimmer Mirjana Bosevska finished in the top 20 in each of her three events. But that wasn't quite good enough for her - she'll be back in 2004.
Success came at an early age for Bosevska. At age 6, she grew tired of simply watching her older sister Vesna swim and decided to take up the sport for herself. When Bosevska was 13, her parents sent her to the U.S. to train at Trinity Prep in Orlando not only because they believed the move was best for her swimming career, but also because they wanted her far from the war brewing at home in the early 1990s.
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At Trinity Prep, Bosevska trained with coach Bill Peak, a grandfatherly figure with whom she quickly became very close. During her sophomore year at Trinity, Peak died of cancer, and Bosevska and her teammates faced the difficult challenge of trying to move on after losing their beloved coach.
Bosevska first thought of Virginia because Peak's successor, Mitch Ivey, was a friend of Mark Bernardino, Cavalier swimming and diving coach. Bosevska originally thought she wanted to go to college on the West Coast but decided it was too far from Macedonia and too far from her high school host family in Orlando. She narrowed her choices down to three: Florida, Auburn and Virginia.
Opting for Virginia was "the best choice I could have made," Bosevska said. "I fit right in with the team, and with the new [coaching staff's] training routine I got into excellent shape and had the best year of my career."
Bosevska won the ACC Rookie of the Year award in her freshman season. Last March, she placed fourth in the 1500-meter freestyle event at the NCAA championships in Indianapolis, just 0.3 of a second off the second-place swimmer's time.
But even the national championships were not a big enough stage for Bosevska. After training every day during the summer with Virginia distance coach Bill Smyth, she traveled to Sydney in September to compete in her second Olympic Games.
When she swam in front of her parents in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, Bosevska was just 15 years old.
"I was scared to death," Bosevska admitted. "It was the biggest meet I'd ever competed in, and while it was nice to be there and stay in the Olympic Village and get to know athletes from all over the world, it was really a terrifying experience."
The second time around, Bosevska was better prepared, both mentally and physically, to compete on the Olympic level. Smyth accompanied her on this adventure after Bosevska asked Macedonian team officials if she could bring him along as her personal coach and trainer.
Bosevska marched under the Macedonian flag in the opening ceremonies in 1996, but in Sydney she had to watch on television. Because her first event - the 200 butterfly - was the next day, she had to get to bed early. In the waiting room before the race, she reacquainted herself with Olympic nerves.
"I was so nervous, and when I went out to the [pool] deck, there were thousands of people in the stands because swimming is one of the biggest sports in Australia," Bosevska recalled. "I was putting my goggles on and my arms were shaking. But once I dove into the water, I forgot all that because I couldn't hear [the fans] scream anymore, and I could just swim."
At Sydney, she finished 18th in the 400 individual medley, 17th in the 800 free and 20th in the 200 fly, dropping significant time off her previous personal records in each of the three events.
Bosevska didn't have long to savor her Olympic experience, though she had fallen in love with Australia after visiting in 1998. She stayed in Sydney for a few days after her events to visit some of the sights of the city - anything to get out of the pool - and to enjoy some of her mother's home cooking, but the University was calling.
After nearly a month off school, Bosevska, who is leaning toward a major in psychology, had to catch up. She brought her books to Sydney to keep up with her reading, but who wants to do homework at the Olympics?
Once back in Charlottesville, Bosevska took a short break from swimming to stave off burnout. Now she has completely immersed herself in training again, this time with the 2001 NCAA Championships in sight. Smyth is preparing her to swim the 500 free, 400 IM and the 200 fly.
Smyth considers Bosevska the most versatile swimmer on the women's team.
"When we fill out meet line-ups, we put all the other swimmers into their best races, and then we figure out where we need the most help, and that's where we put Mirjana," Smyth said.
"She trains everything well - all distances, all strokes," Smyth added. "The level of consistency in her training over the past 15 months has been some of the best I've ever seen. She just doesn't let up on herself."
And what of the possibility of Bosevska swimming a little closer to home, say the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece?
"Our goal is to get her through the next two and a half years," Smyth said. "Once we do that, and if she wants to keep going and maintains her intensity in training, then there's nothing to keep her from at least being in the [Olympic] top eight"
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