MALIBU, Calif. -- Eight Pepperdine student-athletes (two current and six former) will be competing at the 2012 Olympics, and a number of other Waves will be taking part in the London Games as coaches.

The eight athletes will be the third-most that Pepperdine has ever sent to one Olympics, trailing only the 11 in 1988 and nine in 1984. More than 40 have participated in the Olympics since 1956, and these Waves have won a total of seven gold medals, eight silver medals and three bronze medals.

Link to Pepperdine's Complete Olympic History

Here's our complete list for 2012:

ATHLETES

MEN'S BASKETBALL
Yakhouba Diawara, France
Diawara (Pepperdine '05) is making his first Olympic appearance. He played two seasons for the Waves and was named to the All-WCC first team in 2004. Diawara played in the NBA for four years and has most recently been playing in Italy.
Update: Diawara helped France to a 4-1 record and second place in their group, but unfortunately the French had a tough quarterfinal matchup and lost to Spain, the 2008 silver medalists. Diawara played in three of the games and had his best effort with eight points against Nigeria.

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Miranda Ayim, Canada
Ayim (Pepperdine '10) is making her first Olympic appearance. She was a three-time All-WCC first teamer and was the Division I-AAA Women's Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2009-10. Ayim set the school record for career blocked shots. She had a brief stint in the WNBA after graduation. This is the first time Pepperdine will ever have an athlete compete in the sport of women's basketball.
Update: Canada had a 2-3 record in its group, but Ayim helped the Canadians advance to the quarterfinals for the first time in the nation's history. There, they faced a nearly impossible task in taking on the heavily favored Americans, and Canada bowed out of the tourney. Ayim played in five of the games, and her best output was four points in the opener against Russia.

WOMEN'S SOCCER
Roxanne Barker, South Africa
Barker (a current senior at Pepperdine) is making her first Olympic appearance. She has been named to the All-WCC second team twice and honorable mention once in her three seasons thus far. This is the first time Pepperdine will ever have an athlete compete in the sport of women's soccer.
Update: Placed in what some considered to be the "Group of Death", South Africa posted a 0-2-1 record in group play. Barker started South Africa's first-ever appearance in the sport at the Olympics, a loss to Sweden. She did not play the next two games.

MEN'S TENNIS
Robert Lindstedt, Sweden
Lindstedt (Pepperdine '98) is making his first Olympic appearance. He will compete in men's doubles and mixed doubles. In his only season at Pepperdine after transferring from Fresno State, Lindstedt and partner Kelly Gullett reached the championship match of the 1998 NCAA men's doubles tournament. Lindstedt has reached the final at Wimbledon in men's tennis in each of the last three years and is ranked 10th in the world in doubles.
Update: Rain kept postponing the tennis schedule, but Lindstedt's first Olympic appearance was a memorable one as he and his partner upset the #8-seeded team from Serbia, which included the world's #2-ranked singles player, Novak Djokovic. Two days later Lindstedt's team lost in the second round of men's doubles and the first round in mixed doubles.

WOMEN'S TRACK
Sarah Attar, Saudi Arabia
Attar (a current junior at Pepperdine) is making her first Olympic appearance. She is one of the first two female athletes ever to compete at the Olympics for Saudi Arabia. This is a first time a Pepperdine athlete will compete in track and field at the Olympics since 1972. Attar will run the 800 meters.
Update: Though Attar finished last in her heat, she received worldwide attention and praise in helping advance the cause of female athletes. Her name was a trending topic on Twitter for hours following her race.
Link to Associated Press story.

MEN'S VOLLEYBALL
Sean Rooney, United States
Rooney (Pepperdine '05) is appearing in his second Olympics. He and the U.S. won a gold medal in 2008. Rooney was the 2005 AVCA National Player of the Year for Pepperdine and was a four-time All-American (three times on the first team). He won a national championship with the Waves in 2005.
Click here for a video interview with Rooney and USA alternate Jonathan Winder.
Update: After two DNPs to start the tournament, Rooney's playing time increased as the Olympics went on. With seven points against Russia and 12 against Tunisia, Rooney helped the U.S. to a 4-1 record in group play. But the Americans were stunned by Italy in the quarterfinals.

MEN'S WATER POLO
Merrill Moses, United States
Jesse Smith, United States
Smith (Pepperdine '06) is appearing in his third Olympics and Moses (Pepperdine '98) will be in his second. Both won silver medals with the 2008 team. Moses helped lead Pepperdine to the 1997 NCAA championship, where he was named tri-MVP, and was a three-time All-American. Smith was a four-time All-American (three times on the first team).
Click here for a video interview with Moses and Smith.
Update: The U.S. couldn't recapture the magic of 2008, winning three of its eight matches for eighth place. The U.S. won its first three times in the water, then lost the next two in pool play. A quarterfinal loss to Croatia then knocked the Americans out of medal contention. Moses made a total of 72 saves as the starting goalkeeper and Smith scored three goals.

COACHES

One-time and future Pepperdine men's water polo coach Terry Schroeder (Pepperdine '81) is the head coach of the United States men's water polo team again in 2012. He led the U.S. to a silver medal in 2008. Schroeder was a four-time Olympian as a player and won silver medals in 1984 and 1988.
Update: see Moses/Smith

Current men's volleyball coach Marv Dunphy (Pepperdine '74) will be coaching at the Olympics for the sixth time. Unlike the others, this time will be with the U.S. women's volleyball team as a consultant coach. He led the 1988 men's team to a gold medal as head coach and was a consultant coach for the 2008 gold-medal-winning men's squad.
Update: A Marv Dunphy-coached team almost won gold for the third time, but the USA women had to settle for silver after falling to Brazil in the final. The U.S. won its first seven matches of the Olympics. The Americans were hoping for their first-ever gold medal in the sport of women's volleyball.

Gary Sato (Pepperdine '78) is serving as an assistant coach for the U.S. men's volleyball team for the third time. He was part of teams that won gold in 1988 and bronze in 1992.
Update: see Rooney

Marcio Sicoli, an assistant coach for the Pepperdine women's volleyball team, is also the beach coach for the duo of Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings. The pair won gold medals in 2004 and 2008.
Update: Sicoli helped the U.S. pair to its third gold medal. He follows in the footsteps of the Waves' Troy Tanner, who was May-Treanor and Walsh Jennings' coach in 2008. In fact, a coach with Pepperdine ties has directed a gold-medal winning beach team at three of the last four Olympics.

ADDITIONAL PEPPERDINE CONNECTIONS

Kevin Barnett (Pepperdine '97) is serving as a broadcaster for NBC Sports for the second straight Olympics. He was a two-time Olympian playing for the U.S. men's volleyball team ... Bob Ctvrtlik (Pepperdine '85) was a member of the International Olympic Committee from 1996-2008 ... A couple of current and former student-athlete just came up short of a spot in the Olympics at qualifying tournaments, including current senior Anisa Guajardo (Mexico, women's soccer) and Fred Winters (Pepperdine '04, Canada, men's volleyball) ... Jonathan Winder (Pepperdine '08) is an alternate for the U.S. men's volleyball team.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS