Lennox bound for Beijing as Puerto Rico's best flyer

A little over a week ago, junior Doug Lennox joined an elite group of athletes by qualifying for the Puerto Rican Olympic Team. He will travel to Beijing, China, this summer to compete in the 2008 Olympics.

While the rest of his team was at the Big Al Open, Lennox traveled to Atlanta, Ga., to compete at the 2007 American Short Course National Championships, where he raced in the both the short-course yards and long-course meters portions of the weekend.

Due to the regulations of the international federation of swimming (FINA), Lennox could only make the team if he raced at a FINA sanctioned event. Neither Big Al nor the regular college dual meets are sanctioned, and there are only a few American-sanctioned events every year.

To qualify for the Puerto Rican Olympic team, Lennox had to make the FINA-B cut for the 100-meter butterfly, 54.71 seconds, which is almost a full second faster than the U.S Olympic trials qualifying time.

Undaunted, Lennox turned in an amazing finishing time of 54.69 seconds, becoming the fastest Puerto Rican butterflyer and earning his spot on the Olympic roster. Lennox came in fifth overall at the time trial while swimming against the likes of six-time Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps, who finished first at the time trial, and a mix of other Olympians from various countries.

Along with his success at the international level, Lennox has also been an integral part of the men's swimming and diving team for the last three years.

"He's very much been a leader on the team every year he's been here, motivating and inspiring others to race during practice and race even harder during meets," senior Michael Honigberg said.

Lennox was Princeton's only individual champion at last year's Eastern Intercollegiate Swimming League championship, posting the top time in the 100 fly.

A swimmer since childhood, Lennox has been part of the Puerto Rican national team for two years, competed at the Central American Games, raced at U.S. senior nationals the last two years and swam in a variety of other national championship meets.

Despite his success, Lennox still manages to keep his feet on the ground and continues to work hard at Princeton.

"I don't consider myself talented, or more talented than anyone else, and I'm certainly not smarter than anyone else here on campus," Lennox said. "Everything I've earned has been through hard work, and swimming has been a lot of years of hard work."

Lennox is an anthropology major, pursuing certificates in American studies, Latin-American studies and urban studies. With a smile always on his face, Lennox is known to his teammates as "Doogles," which accurately describes his joking personality.

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"He's definitely a character, [a] happy-go-lucky kind of guy, and always a big goofball," Honigberg said. "Except in race situations, he's always smiling and always cracking jokes."

"I guess you can call me a hermit to the swim team; my normal schedules is swimming and academics and then hanging out with friends from the swim team," Lennox said. "I'm just straightforward and low-key."

His Puerto Rican background is also a big part of his life, as he has continued to keep his Latin-American heritage alive during his Princeton career.

"I've enjoyed the Spanish classes I've taken, especially with professor Luisa Duarte," Lennox said. "Keeping up with the Spanish has been a struggle, and being in her classes has really helped me with it."

With the bulk of the swimming season left, Lennox is now focused on the college portion, working towards a NCAA "A" cut in the 100-yard fly. His time of 47.45 in the 100-yard buttefly was good enough for a solid "B" cut, but he needs a 47.09 for an automatic qualifying time.

"My goals are the same as they have been every year: win HYPs, win Easterns and finally ... make the NCAA meet," Lennox said.

When all is said and done, Lennox has been a force to be reckoned with in the water and the friend to have for those who have had the chance to meet him.

"He's a genuinely good guy, a loyal friend and teammate," Honigberg said. "What I admire most is his humility in [the] face of all of his stats, and especially despite the fact that he's going to the Olympics."

With 218 days left until Beijing, keep your eyes open for Lennox, as he is the only Tiger with a ticket punched to China.