As the Olympics attempts to embrace the world in Beijing, Hawai'i's reputation as a melting pot remains red hot.

Australia goes after America's softball domination with two former University of Hawai'i players at the 2008 Games. Stacey Porter is one of the world's premier hitters and Justine Smethurst is attempting to be the stopper much as she was here when she helped the 'Bows into the 2007 Super Regionals.

The Netherlands will try to revive its glorious water polo history with former Rainbow Wahine Iefke Van Belkum and Meike De Nooy. Van Belkum recently gave up her final two years of eligibility when she signed a professional contract to play in Greece. De Nooy, as artistic out of the pool as she is in the net, will be back in Manoa this fall to finish her degree and help coach the UH goalies.

UH coach Michel Roy flatly calls Van Belkum, 22, "one of the best water polo players in the world." She scored four goals to lift the Dutch over Russia and into its first Olympics. Now, her dream is to help the world realize how good water polo is where it originated; the first women's match was played in 1906 in Harlem, Netherlands, and didn't debut at the Games until 2000.

"Her first and best quality is her ability to forget," Roy said. "She can shoot and not worry about it. That takes an incredible self-confidence. But it's also her vision and her understanding of the game — when to pass, where to pass and passing perfectly to score goals. She has an overall understanding of the game at a faster speed than most."

Van Belkum's strength also lies in her versatility to play any position but goalie, which she will leave to De Nooy, currently the backup to a 19-year-old headed to USC. De Nooy is nearly 6 feet 2 — a primary component of her astounding ability to cover the 3-meter (9 feet, 10 inches) net despite not being allowed to touch the bottom of the pool.

"She's not scared of the ball," said Roy, who could have 11 international players next season. "She understands the game, where to move, where the ball is coming from. She is in the head of the shooter and understands the opponent's offense.

"They are both brilliant players. For Holland to win the qualifier, they had to pull a miracle off and they did."

Roy sees a wide-open field in Beijing, with Italy, Hungary, Russia, the U.S., Australia and ... yes, the Netherlands, all having a shot at gold in a sport that has caught the world's imagination at its first two Olympics (won by Australia and Italy).

Van Belkum, who has traveled the world since joining her national team fulltime two years ago, admits to missing "my team, Mich, an outside pool and nice weather" in Hawai'i. She has also come to realize that the "American winning spirit" is very different than what she feels in Dutch culture: "It showed me something new and all about never giving up."

Still, she would not trade this for all the windmills at home.

"All the teams at the Olympics will be good so there will be a small difference every game," Van Belkum said. "I hope we will play good and make it through our pool, and if we do I think everything is possible."

Softball is another, somewhat strange, story. The sport, which had its Olympic debut in 1996, has been cut from the 2012 Games along with baseball (it could return at subsequent Games if another vote goes in the sports' favor). The voters that made that choice were predominantly European and it was seen by some as an anti-American decision involving games born in the USA and dominated by the Americas.

"I don't know if everybody was tired of of the Americans winning all the time," UH assistant softball coach Dee Wisneski said. "It saddens me. There are so many up-and-coming players and they are not going to get their shot at it."

Team USA's dominance in softball borders on the ridiculous. It has won all three gold medals and outscored opponents 117-16. Australia is one of the few teams ever to defeat the Americans and, with a more experienced pitching staff than the U.S., has a shot at shocking the world in Beijing, along with Japan and China.

Porter is the type of player who could inspire a shocker. Her engaging personality makes the people around her happier, and better.

Now toned and immensely strong, she has an exceptional eye and quick hands. With her everyday experience here and more than 200 international games on her resume, she has "fixed" the only real weakness in her game.

"She really has that discipline," said UH head coach Bob Coolen, who has seen Porter and Smethurst this year. "Some batters swing at anything and everything because they all look like good pitches. Stacey has always had real good discipline and knew her stroke zone. She had the toughest time with the high-inside pitch, but now once they get it by her she knows it's coming back and she can hit that ball out of the park to left field. I saw her hit some monster shots."

Smethurst plans to return to Manoa in January to play her final two years. She gives the Rainbow Wahine a presence on the Aussie mound for the fourth straight Games, with former All-American Brooke Wilkins pitching in the first three. Smethurst might be the quickest of the four Australian hurlers. Like Tanya Harding and Melanie Roache, she is also an offensive threat.

"The experience she gains will be tremendous," Wisneski said. "Justine is a power pitcher, she likes to blow the ball by everybody. With the experience she will be a smarter pitcher."

Her return might remind softball and water polo coaches of what might have been had all these student-athletes played all four years. Losing them was hard on everyone but, even with the likelihood that elite foreign athletes won't finish their eligibility, Roy and Coolen have no regrets. Coolen thinks he might get more foreign players now that the Olympics won't be an option. His experience so far, with students and athletes, has been extremely positive.

"Half the Australian players we've had have succeeded as student-athletes by getting degrees," he said. "The other half have been so elite that the Australians want them home. I don't see it as a frustration, just an understanding that we're getting the best they have to offer."

For more than the obvious reasons. "Their passion for the sport and desire to win and the work they put in daily is what I miss most," said Roy, whose words of water polo wisdom also apply to softball. "Without them in our pool it makes us a step slower. If they were here we would all have to work harder. They want to win the NCAA title and be world and Olympic champions. They have an amazing attitude toward sports.

"What we miss most is the maturity of world-class athletes."