Did you know that 29 current and former Auburn athletes competed at the 2008 Olympic Games?

It was Auburn swimmers broke records and took home 13 medals, more than any other school in the country.

Auburn has been attracting swimmers from all over the work because of its great swimming facilities, coaches, and academics.

Just ask Jakob Andkjaer. Andkjaer is an industrial design major from Farum, Denmark.


Find more videos like this on The Loveliest Village
He is a 23-time national champion in Denmark, an 11-time All-American and has broken numerous Danish national records. Andkjaer has been studying and training at Auburn since January 2006 and traveled with other Auburn athletes to compete in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

“It was an honor to compete for my country, but to also represent Auburn,” said Andkjaer. Auburn athletes hailed from 13 different countries and competed in 24 events, winning 18 medals in 13 events.

Auburn swimmers shattered the schools previous record of six medals in a single Olympiad. So how do these students school and work and still have time to enjoy themselves?

“It can be quite difficult to juggle properly school and training,” said Andkjaer. Andkjear currently swims nine times a week. When training for the Olympic he swam and trained even more.

Even with school and training Andkjear still makes time for a social life.

“It really not too bad, it’s nice that Auburn is set up pretty conveniently so never takes too long to get anywhere. I can still make times for friends and fun,” said Andkjear. Not only was the Olympics an honor for Andkjear it was also a great experience to tour and meet new people.

“It was great to meet other athletes from all different sports and all different backgrounds. I was also able to tour around after the competition and see all the amazing sites,” said Andkjear.