Roberto Delgado (swimmer)

Roberto Delgado
Personal information
Full name Roberto Delgado Martillo
National team  Ecuador
Born (1975-04-03) 3 April 1975
Mission Viejo, California,
United States
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Weight 80 kg (176 lb)
Sport
Sport Swimming
Strokes Freestyle, butterfly
College team Arizona State University (U.S.)
Coach Mike Chasson (U.S.)

Roberto Delgado Martillo (born April 3, 1975) is an Ecuadorian former swimmer who specialized in freestyle and butterfly events.[1] A two-time Olympian (1996 and 2000), he holds numerous Ecuadorian records in both 100 and 200 m butterfly, and retains his dual resident status to compete internationally for his parents' homeland. Delgado's swimming career is also overshadowed by a doping suspicion, when FINA has ordered him a one-month ban for failing the drug test. While studying in the United States, Delgado has been listed as an all-time Top 10 performer in the 200 m butterfly for the Arizona State Sun Devils.

Career

Early years

Delgado was born in Mission Viejo, California, United States by Ecuadorian parents, giving him a dual residential status. Coming from an athletic pedigree, he grew up most of his life in an aquatic field. His older brothers David and Eddie swam for the Mission Viejo High School team, while his cousin Jorge Delgado, Jr. competed in the 200 m butterfly (2:04.60) at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, finishing behind Americans Mark Spitz, Gary Hall, Sr., and Robin Backhaus. His other sibling Felipe Delgado was primarily a water polo player in high school, before he officially became an elite sprint freestyle swimmer. Delgado and his brother Felipe shared a sibling tandem in the sport, when they both competed together for Ecuador at two Olympic games.[2]

Delgado started his sporting career at age five. He and his siblings were encouraged by their mother to take swimming lessons because of his grandfather's tragic drowning.[3] Being natural on the water in his early childhood, Delgado began competing in numerous age group meets across Mission Viejo and nearby areas. Delgado attended Mission Viejo High School, where he swam for the Mission Viejo Nadadores. Coming to the sport more reluctantly, he did not get serious about swimming until reaching his junior season.[2]

Delgado accepted a partial athletic scholarship to attend the Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona, where he played for the Arizona State Sun Devils swimming and diving team under head coach Mike Chasson.[4][5] Serving as the school's team captain, he posted a sixth-fastest time of 1:48.74 in the 200-yard butterfly at the 1997 Pacific-10 Conference Championships.[6][7] In the spring of 1998, he graduated from the University with a bachelor's degree in marketing.[8]

International career

Delgado made his first Ecuadorian team, alongside his brother Felipe, at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. He failed to reach the top 16 final in the 100 m butterfly, finishing forty-fourth with a time of 56.29.[9] A member of the Ecuadorian squad, he placed fifteenth in the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay (3:27.77), and sixteenth in the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay (7:54.37).[10][11]

On May 24, 1999, Delgado's swimming career had been overshadowed by a doping suspicion. He received a temporary suspension or a one-month ban from FINA after testing positive for the banned stimulants pseudophedrine and cathine at the Short Course World Championships in Hong Kong.[12]

At the 2000 Summer Olympics inSydney, Delgado decided to drop all freestyle relays, and experiment instead with a butterfly double.[8] He achieved FINA B-standards of 56.36 (100 m butterfly) and 2:04.53 (200 m butterfly) from the Pan American Games in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.[13][14] In his first event, 200 m butterfly, Delgado placed forty-third on the morning prelims. Swimming in heat one, he picked up a third seed by almost five seconds behind Chinese Taipei's Tseng Cheng-hua, outside his entry time of 2:08.18.[15][16] Three days later, in the 100 m butterfly, Delgado challenged seven other swimmers in heat two, including Guam's 28-year-old Daniel O'Keeffe, and Bosnia's three-time Olympian Janko Gojković. He rocketed to a fifth-place finish and forty-sixth overall in a time of 56.07, but could not hold off a challenge from O'Keeffe, who touched the wall ahead by a small fraction of a second.[17][18][19]

References

  1. ↑ "Roberto Delgado". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 7 June 2013.
  2. 1 2 Terry, Mike (7 July 1996). "Swimming for Ecuador: Trio Using Dual Citizenship as a Steppingstone to the Olympics". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 8 June 2013.
  3. ↑ "Roberto Delgado Beat His Join Pain". United States Masters Swimming. 2 August 2012. Retrieved 8 June 2013.
  4. ↑ "ASU Olympians List". Arizona State Sun Devils. Retrieved 3 June 2013.
  5. ↑ "Arizona State Olympians" (PDF). Arizona State Sun Devils. p. 41. Retrieved 2 June 2013.
  6. ↑ "1997-98 Men's Swimming Outlook". Arizona State Sun Devils. Retrieved 7 June 2013.
  7. ↑ "All-Time Top 10 Men's Times" (PDF). Arizona State Sun Devils. Retrieved 8 June 2013.
  8. 1 2 "Dos hermanos en Sidney" [Two brothers in Sydney] (in Spanish). Hoy. 10 August 2000. Retrieved 8 June 2013.
  9. ↑ "Atlanta 1996: Aquatics (Swimming) – Men's 100m Butterfly Heat 3" (PDF). Atlanta 1996. LA84 Foundation. p. 46. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
  10. ↑ "Atlanta 1996: Aquatics (Swimming) – Men's 4×100m Freestyle Relay Heat 3" (PDF). Atlanta 1996. LA84 Foundation. p. 51. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
  11. ↑ "Atlanta 1996: Aquatics (Swimming) – Men's 4×200m Freestyle Relay Heat 2" (PDF). Atlanta 1996. LA84 Foundation. p. 51. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
  12. ↑ "Three Swimmers Suspended After Positive Drug Tests". Swimming World Magazine. 23 May 1999. Retrieved 8 June 2013.
  13. ↑ "Swimming – Men's 100m Butterfly Startlist (Heat 2)" (PDF). Sydney 2000. Omega Timing. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
  14. ↑ "Swimming – Men's 200m Butterfly Startlist (Heat 1)" (PDF). Sydney 2000. Omega Timing. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
  15. ↑ "Sydney 2000: Swimming – Men's 200m Butterfly Heat 1" (PDF). Sydney 2000. LA84 Foundation. p. 216. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
  16. ↑ "Malchow sets Olympic record in 200 fly". Canoe.ca. 18 September 2000. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
  17. ↑ "Sydney 2000: Swimming – Men's 100m Butterfly Heat 2" (PDF). Sydney 2000. LA84 Foundation. p. 206. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
  18. ↑ "Results from the Summer Olympics – Swimming (100m Butterfly)". Canoe.ca. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  19. ↑ "Czene Misses Medal At Olympics". Arizona State Sun Devils. 21 September 2000. Retrieved 9 June 2013.
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