Aug. 12, 2004

By Hugh Biggar The Stanford Daily

STANFORD, Ca. (U-WIRE) - 2004 Stanford graduate Markus Rogan has won two NCAA swimming championships, and was named the University's top male athlete in 2002. He's headed to the Olympics, and already has several endorsement deals lined up.

Given all of this, he is a decidedly low-profile guy. During a lunch hour last quarter at Stanford's student union, which was crowded with students and the visiting families of prospective freshmen, nobody gave the 6-foot-5 Rogan a second look. With his shorts, sandals, t-shirt, backpack and conversational language peppered with "like," "sweet," and "kickin' it," Rogan blended in easily.

In his native Austria, where Rogan is the number one-ranked swimmer, things are different.

"I get the double-triple look," Rogan said of his fellow Austrians. "They send their kids over to get an autograph. Sometimes when I buy something and they see my name, they apologize for not recognizing me earlier."

By contrast, Rogan said he didn't mind being just another face in the crowd at Stanford. Swimming at Stanford has brought him other advantages -- advantages he believes he would never have had in Austria.

"In Austria, there is a national culture of being mediocre. I think they have just lost too often," Rogan said.

He points out that Austria has lost all of its major wars in the last 100 years and has had an official status of political neutrality since 1945.

"[Austrians] are perfectly happy to be in the middle," Rogan said. "They don't want to be the best, they don't want to be the worst."

Rogan escaped this middle-ground malaise by moving to the United States from Vienna when he was 14. At that time, his stepfather was assigned to work as a television correspondent in Washington, D.C.

The move proved providential for Rogan. A casual interest in swimming in Austria soon became his full-time focus. With the help of his high school coach in suburban Virginia, Rogan became an All-American swimmer. His coach also encouraged Stanford to recruit Rogan. In turn, Rogan was attracted to Stanford because of its culture of both academics and athletics.

"In Austria, I would have finished at school and then would have had to make a decision. Do I want to go the academic way or the athletic way?" he said.

At Stanford, Rogan felt lucky to be able to do both, especially since top athletes in Austria usually skip college altogether. In addition to practicing 30 hours a week in preparation for the Olympics, Rogan also finished his undergraduate degree in political science and economics in June. He hopes to use his degree to go to work in management for one of his sponsors when he finished with competitive swimming.

Athletically, Rogan feels one of the most important things he has learned at Stanford is an American-style confidence that gives him an edge in the pool.

"I wouldn't have been nearly as good a swimmer if I hadn't come to Stanford," he said, recalling his experience as an 18-year-old at the Sydney Olympics in 2000. "I was too scared to do well, then. It was a very Austrian way to think."

Now, he says, he has no such fears.

"It's amazing at practice when you know, if you keep up with [your teammates], you can keep up with anyone in the world," he said.

The Austrian papers tease him about this newfound confidence and his tendency to complain about finishing second.

"At first they called it an "Americanism," Rogan said, "Now they have learned to accept it."

Rogan hopes this confidence will make the difference in Athens. His goal of gold is as much a personal desire as it is something he wants for Austria, a nation normally fanatical only about skiing, not swimming. Austria hasn't won an Olympic medal in swimming since 1912, something Rogan plans to change.

"I feel haven't won anything big yet," Rogan said. "I haven't won the Olympics. I realize there is a lot more to do."

(C) 2004 The Stanford Daily via U-WIRE.