ATLANTA — Georgia Tech is known as an international hub that attracts talent in science, engineering -- and, you guessed it, swimming.
When you look inside the swimming pool in Paris, there's a good chance you'll catch a Georgia Tech swimmer competing for a medal.
"I have a chance. I'm going to go to Paris and, like, race these Olympians," said swimmer Ariana Dirkzwager. Dirkzwager is competing for Team Laos, her mother's home country.
It's a chance that seems to hang right above the surface. All you have to do is take a look at Georgia Tech's swimming record books, and it becomes crystal clear that at Georgia Tech's McAuley Aquatic Center, greatness flows. The legacy of creating Olympians attracts talent such as Joao Caballero.
"I'm a really competitive swimmer. I want to win -- no matter what," Caballero said. "Georgia Tech was like the best (school) for me. I know here I can achieve my dream."
Currently swimming for Brazil's national team, Caballero is hoping to one day represent his country on the world's biggest stage.
"I just want to be there. It's like, the dream," he said, laughing.
By swimming for the Yellow Jackets, he's been able to wade into the competition and share the pool with other Olympic athletes, such as Berke Saka.
"I just blindly committed here and that was pretty much like the best decision I ever made in my life," Saka said.
While at Georgia Tech, Saka currently has the best time in program history in the 200m backstroke. He's already competed in the Tokyo Games, where he proudly represented Turkey.
"I was just like looking around, like admiring the pool, like realizing I was at the Olympics - which wasn’t my dream just a few years ago," Saka said. "Now I'm trying to make it two-time Olympian."
And he did.
Saka is in Paris, once again competing with Turkey and getting the full Olympic experience. Before he left, he shared that he was excited to have fans in the stands and an Opening Ceremony filled with people - details he didn't have to consider during the pandemic Games.
With potentially more distractions, Saka said he is confident that his coach, an Olympian herself, prepared him for success.
"It really helps that she knows the pressure and what it’s like over there or what it takes to get there and stuff," Saka explained.
Head Coach Courtney Shealy Hart instills a wave of confidence in her swimmers and prepares them for all kinds of pressure in the depths of the swimming pool.
"Once you get to the meet, it’s like 90% mental and 10% physical because you’ve done the work but putting that preparation in is what’s most important and then keeping a good mindset throughout the training process," Hart said.
After snagging two gold medals during the 2000 Sydney Games, she's been training potential Olympians at Georgia Tech since 2009.
"How fast can we get? What is the fastest that somebody will be? You know, nobody knows the answer to that," the Georgia Tech coach said.
For 15 years, she's encouraged promising athletes to find out. She's challenged them to make a splash and leave their own legacy.
"I’m happy to share my own story so they can take the bits and pieces and make it their own story," Hart said.