Arsenio Alexander López Rosario (born May 3, 1979), also known as Alex Lopez, is a Puerto Rican former swimmer and three-time Olympian who specialized in breaststroke and individual medley events. Lopez was born in

Humacao, Puerto Rico Humacao () is a city and municipality in Puerto Rico located in the eastern coast of the island, north of Yabucoa; south of Naguabo; east of Las Piedras; and west of Vieques Passage. Humacao is spread over 12 barrios and Humacao Pueblo (the ...

. He attended the

Bolles School The Bolles School is an American private college preparatory day and boarding school in Jacksonville, Florida. It has a lower school (including pre-kindergarten), a middle school, and a high school, spread across four campuses around the Jackson ...

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

, where he was a member of the Bolles School Swimming Club. Lopez accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

in Gainesville, Florida, where he competed for the

Florida Gators swimming and diving The Florida Gators swimming and diving program represents the University of Florida in the aquatics sports of swimming and diving. The program includes separate men's and women's teams, both of which compete in Division I of the National Coll ...

team under coach

Gregg Troy Gregg Troy (born December 19, 1950) is an American professional and Olympic swimming coach. As of April 2021, he is the head coach for the Cali Condors, which is part of the International Swimming League. Until 2018, he was the head coach of the ...

. He majored in civil engineering at the university. Lopez made his Olympic debut, as a 17-year-old teen, at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

in Atlanta. He failed to reach the top 16 final in any of his individual events, finishing twenty-seventh in the 200-meter individual medley (2:06.99) and twenty-fifth in the 400-meter individual medley (4:34.81). He also placed seventeenth, as a member of the Puerto Rican team (including finalist Ricardo Busquets), in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay (3:28.27). At the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 ( Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from ...

in Sydney, Lopez decided to drop two of his events from Atlanta and experiment with the 100-meter breaststroke. He finished in a first-place tie with Latvia's Valērijs Kalmikovs on the fourth heat with a time of 1:04.02. In the 200-meter individual medley, he raced to a fourth seed in heat three by 0.07 seconds behind South Korea's

Han Kyu-Chul Han Kyu-chul (also ''Han Gyu-cheol'', ko, 한 규철; born December 24, 1981) is a South Korean former swimmer, who specialized in freestyle, butterfly, and individual medley events. He is a two-time Olympian (2000 and 2004), and an eight-time ...

in 2:06.49. Lopez did not qualify for the semifinals, finishing thirty-fourth each in all of his events from the heats. Lopez shortened his program at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, when he swam only for the 100-meter breaststroke. He cleared a FINA B-standard entry time of 1:04.01 from the

2003 Pan American Games The 2003 Pan American Games were held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, from August 1 to 17, 2003. The successful bid for the games was made in the mid-1990s, when Dominican Republic had one of the highest growth rates in Latin America. Al ...

in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. He challenged seven other swimmers in the same heat as Sydney, including four-time Olympian

Ratapong Sirisanont Ratapong "Nuk" Sirisanont ( th, รัฐพงศ์ ศิริสานนท์; born July 1, 1976) is a Thai former swimmer, who specialized in breaststroke, but also competed in long-distance freestyle and individual medley. He is a four-t ...

(Thailand), who was later disqualified for a false start. Lopez posted a time of 1:03.99 to take a second seed by a 1.02-second margin behind winner

Jakob Johann Sveinsson Jakob may refer to: People * Jakob (given name), including a list of people with the name * Jakob (surname), including a list of people with the name Other * Jakob (band), a New Zealand band, and the title of their 1999 EP * Max Jakob Memorial Aw ...

of Iceland. Lopez ended his third Olympic stint by sharing a thirty-fifth place tie with New Zealand's

Ben Labowitch Ben-Rachmiel Labowitch (born 1 July 1980) is a New Zealand former swimmer, who specialized in breaststroke events. Since his mother is a New Zealand citizen, Labowitch claims a dual citizenship which allowed him to try out and make the New Zea ...

on the morning prelims.

References

External links

Player Bio – Florida Gators
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lopez, Arsenio 1979 births Bolles School alumni Living people People from Humacao, Puerto Rico Puerto Rican male swimmers Olympic swimmers for Puerto Rico Swimmers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1999 Pan American Games Swimmers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Male breaststroke swimmers Male medley swimmers Florida Gators men's swimmers University of Florida alumni Pan American Games competitors for Puerto Rico

See also

References

External links