Olympics Trivia: Piedmont's Other Competitors

While many eyes in Piedmont will be focused this week on Scott Gault and Zach Vlados, both competing in men's rowing in London during the next two weeks, they aren't the city's first links to the Olympics — and likely won't be the last.

Nearly a century ago, Charles Lee Tilden, Jr. (June 4, 1894–Nov. 1, 1968) won a gold medal as member of the American rugby union team in the 1920 Summer Olympics. Four years later he was a reserve player of the American Olympic rugby union team, which again won the gold medal, but did not play in a match. According to Wikipedia, he was a a Piedmont resident. Tilden Regional Park was named for his father, who led the effort to create the East Bay Regional Parks system.

The first competitor in rowing with a Piedmont connection was Hubert Caldwell (Dec. 26, 1907-Aug. 9, 1972), according to sports-reference.com. Caldwell sat in the seventh seat for the UC Berkeley eight that won the 1928 Olympic gold medal. Caldwell, 6'2" and 185 lbs., later became a well-known engineer in Piedmont, sports-reference.com says.

While predicting who may qualify for future Olympic Games is always speculative, one name that comes up is that of Piedmont skier K.C. Oakley, a member of the U.S. Ski Team and 2012 FIS World Cup Rookie of the Year.

In her U.S. Ski Team biography Oakley says, "In the 2013 season, I am just looking forward to taking my skiing up another notch. Ski better, ski faster, jump bigger. I want to push my limits and see where that takes me. Being the pre-Olympic year, it makes it the perfect time to do this so that come Olympic year, I will know my baseline and my ceiling for how I will perform both mentally and physically."

East Bay 2012 Olympians

In addition to Gault and Vlados, several other East Bay residents are competing in the London Olympic Games. They include:

Swimmer
Competing: 400 freestyle relay
From: Lafayette

Sex: Female
Water Polo/Attacker
From: Orinda/Long Beach

Sex: Male
Competing in Diving
Event / position / class: 3m synchro
Age: 19
From: Clayton

Sex: Female
Competing in Synchro Swimming
Event / position / class: Duet
Age: 22
From: Concord

Melissa Seidemann
Sex: Female
Competing in Water Polo
Event / position / class: Defender
Age: 22
From: Walnut Creek (graduated from College Park High, Pleasant Hill; now attending Stanford University)

Kara Kohler
Sex: Female
Competing in Rowing
Event / position / class: Quadruple Sculls
Age: 21
From: Clayton

Julie Nichols
Sex: Female
Competing in Rowing
Event / position / class: Lightweight Double Sculls
Age: 34
From: Livermore

Jessica Steffens
Sex: Female
Competing in Water Polo
Event / position / class: Defender
Age: 25
From: Danville

Maggie Steffens
Sex: Female
Competing in Water Polo
Event / position / class: Defender
Age: 19
From: Danville

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