2012 Olympics Preview: Guide To Bay Area Athletes Competing In The Summer Games

The 2012 Olympics kick off in London on July 27. The Bay Area will be more than well-represented; a full 39 Olympic athletes will be representing the United States and trying to bring some medals home to Northern California.

If you're wondering who you'll be cheering on in this year's Summer Games (other than the United States in general), look no further. We're collecting all of the Bay Area athletes here for you in one handy location. Get well-versed in these names before the games get underway next week. You may be on your feet rooting for them before you know it.

Zach Vlahos, Julie Nichols, Erin Cafaro and Kara Kohler all attend Cal and will all be competing in rowing. Also representing the California Golden Bears is Natalie Coughlin, who will be competing in the 400m free relay in swimming and Heather Petri, who is on the water polo team. Also on the water polo team is Maggie Steffens from San Ramon.

San Francisco native Howard Bach of Cal State Fullerton will be competing in Badminton.

James Williams from Sacramento will be on the U.S. fencing team in sabre, while Alexander Massialas and Gerek Meinhardt of San Francisco and Doris Willette of Lafayette will be competing in foil.

Anthony Fahden of Oakland will also be competing in rowing. Shannon Rowbury of San Francisco will compete in the 1500m run.

Lily Zhang and Ariel Hsing, of Palo Alto and Freemont, respectively, will represent the U.S. in table tennis.

Kibwe Johnson of San Francisco will compete in the hammer toss. Jesse Williams from Modesto will compete in the high jump. Keshia Baker from Fairfield will be in the relay pool for track and field.

Megan Rapinoe from Redding is a member of the U.S. women's national soccer team.

Stanford will have a healthy contingent of athletes in the games. Kerri Walsh Jennings competes in beach voleyball, Kristian Ipsen in diving, Silas Stafford in rowing, Mariya Koroleva in synchronized swimming, Jillian Camarena-Williams in shot put, Logan Tom in volleyball and Peter Varellas, Jessica Steffens and Melissa Seidemann in water polo.

There are four San Jose natives competing in the event. Jeneba Tarmoh will be in the relay pool, Michelle Carter competes in shot put, Scott Weltz in the 200m breast stroke and Michelle Kasold in field hockey.

Kim Conley of Santa Rosa will run the 5000m in track and field. Haley Anderson of Santa Clara competes in the 10K open water swim. Nicole Davis of Stockton is on the volleyball team.

Scott Gault of Piedmont and Mary Whippie of Sacramento round out the Bay Area athletes and will be competing in rowing.

For complete coverage of the Summer Games in London, please stay tuned to SB Nation's dedicated 2012 Olympics hub.