FAU Assistant AD Named to MACCABI Team

Feb. 1, 2001

Alex Smolka, a Boca Raton resident and an Assistant Athletic Director at Florida Atlantic University, has been named to the United States Maccabiah Triathlon Team which will compete at the 16th World Maccabiah Games, July 16-26, 2001, in Israel. The triathlon team will be one of 26 United States sports teams that will compete at the world's fourth largest international, Olympic-style event, according to Jordan Weinstein, chairman of the U.S.A. 16th Maccabiah Steering Committee.

Smolka, who graduate from Northeastern University and who has achieved a master's degree in Sports and Business Management and in History, has an extensive race resume. He has completed more than 40 multi- sport events over the past five years and competed in the 1991 USTS National Triathlon Championship in Las Vegas, NV. Smolka was ranked in the countries top-100 for the age group of 25-29 and was an alternate on the 1993 USA Maccabiah Triathlon Team. Last fall he finished among the top-five in every race he competed including two second place finishes. His personal best in the Olympic Distance Triathlon is 2:05.54. In an average training week, the 35 year old swims between 8 and 10,000 meters, bikes 60-100 miles and runs 20-35 miles.

Over 5,000 athletes representing more than 50 countries will take part in the 16th edition of the Maccabiah, a quadrennial athletic competition for Jewish athletes. The United States is expecting to send a contingent of "700 athletes and coaches, which would make it the largest U.S. Maccabiah Team in history," reported Weinstein.

Members of the United States Organizing Committee"are committed to ensuring that all members of the U.S. Team come to Israel as Jewish athletes and return as athletic Jews," Jordan Weinstein said.

Previously, the U.S. Maccabiah Team has included such sports greats as basketball stars Ernie Grunfeld, and Danny and Dolph Schayes, golfer Bruce Fleisher, gymnast Mitch Gaylord, swimmer Mark Spitz, tennis pros Brad Gilbert and Dick Savitt.

Open competition is expected to include U.S. athletes in the following sports: badminton, basketball, beach volleyball, fencing, field hockey (women only), golf, gymnastics, judo, karate, rugby (men), soccer (men), softball (men), squash, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, tennis, ten pin bowling, track and field, triathlon, volleyball, water polo (men), and wrestling (men). U.S. junior athletes - born in the years 1985, 1986 or 1987 - are expected to compete in baseball (boys), basketball (boys), gymnastics, soccer, squash (boys), swimming, tennis, track and field, and volleyball (girls). U.S. masters competition - age categories vary from sport to sport - are expected to include basketball, golf, lawn bowls, soccer (men), squash, table tennis (men), tennis and triathlon.

The quadrennial World Maccabiah Games, sanctioned by the International Olympic Committee, brings Jewish athletes from around the world together for competition in three categories, juniors, masters and open. Opening ceremonies are scheduled for July 16, 2001 at Ramat Gan Stadium in Tel Aviv, and closing ceremonies will take place in Jerusalem on July 26, 2001.

"Our formula remains consistent," Jordan Weinstein said. "Sports is the attraction. The Land of Israel is the vehicle. Jewish continuity is our primary goal."

"It is a great honor for me to be part of the U.S. triathlon team, and I am very proud to be able to represent my adopted country, my community, family and FAU at the games this year," Smolka stated.

The U.S. Maccabiah team is sponsored by Maccabi USA/Sports for Israel. Maccabi USA/Sports for Israel is a nonational, not-for-profit, volunteer organization that seeks to enrich the lives of Jewish youth in the U.S., Israel and throughout the Diaspora through cultural, athletic and educational programs.

For more information about the Maccabiah Games or to receive an application, call the Maccabiah Games Hotline at 215-561-6181, fax to 215-561-5470, send e-mail to Maccabi@maccabiusa.com or visit the Maccabi USA/Sports for Israel website at www.maccabiusa.com.

To arrange for photographs or interviews, contact Sue Millis at the Maccabi USA/Sports for Israel office at 215/561-6900 x 18 or by e-mail to smillis@maccabiusa.com.

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