The Winter Olympics kicked off in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy on Feb. 6 and will conclude this Sunday, Feb. 22. This year, the competitions have been taking off more than ever on social media and streaming platforms. There are multiple events spread across Northern Italy’s Dolomites and cities, putting its historic ski culture on display. The Italian crowds are loud and emotional in the best way possible, creating a passionate atmosphere. Many fans have been tuning to sports like alpine skiing, figure skating and snowboarding, but we all know that Maine’s specialty is hockey. Seven University of Maine alumni were seen competing at these Winter Olympics. UMaine is thrilled to see and cheer on players that gave so much to our program.
Jeremy Swayman played with Black Bear hockey his freshman and sophomore year and later got drafted to the Boston Bruins as an 111th overall pick. He has been playing with the Bruins since 2017 and has been called up to play for the U.S. since 2021. This is Swayman’s first Olympics competing with the United States and he has made an impact right away, helping the U.S. win gold for the first time since 1980.
Frank Del Duca, a Maine native from the small town of Bethel, walked on to UMaine’s track and field team in 2010 and served as team captain. Del Duca specialized in sprinting and long jump, where he earned a 2023 America East title in long jump and consistently ranked among the school’s top ten performers throughout his four years. After graduating, he attended a bobsled combine at the recommendation of his track coach and started his bobsledding career in 2015. He went on to compete with the U.S National Bobsled Team and competed on the World Cup circuit. This is now his second Winter Olympics as he represented the U.S. at the 2022 in the two-man and four-man events in Beijing. Now, he was selected through a vote by his fellow U.S. athletes to be one of the flag bearers for the opening ceremonies.
Former UMaine women’s hockey players competing for Czechia are Vendula Přibylová and Tereza Vanišová. Both began their career as Black Bears in 2016 and graduated in 2019. Vanišová was named Hockey East Co-Rookie of the Year and the Czech Republic’s Female Hockey Player of the Year in 2016-17. She still holds the UMaine women’s ice hockey program’s all-time career scoring record and now plays for the Vancouver Goldeneyes in the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL). This is her second Olympics as she and Přibylová competed at the 2022 Olympics in Beijing where they were eliminated by the U.S in the quarter-finals. Přibylová currently plays for MoDo Hockey Dam of the Swedish Women’s Hockey League.
Four other hockey standouts who played at UMaine are representing their country. Eduards Tralmaks for Latvia, Ida Kuoppala for Finland, Rahel Enzler for Switzerland and Anna Caumo for Italy. Lastly, we can’t forget about legendary American hockey coach, John Tortorella, who played for three seasons at UMaine and went on to have an outstanding coaching career in the NHL, becoming the first former Black Bear to win a Stanley Cup when he guided Tampa Bay to the title in 2004. In 2022, Tortorella was inducted into the University of Maine Sports Hall of Fame. He was on the staff as an assistant coach of the U.S. men’s hockey gold-medal squad.
