Rafael Vidal
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Rafael Antonio Vidal Castro (January 6, 1964 – February 12, 2005) was a
Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...
n competition
swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...
, Olympic medalist and
sports commentator In sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real-time commentary of a game or event, usually during a live broadcast, traditionally delivered in the historical present tense. Radio was ...
.


Life

Vidal was born in
Caracas, Venezuela Caracas (, ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas, abbreviated as CCS, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the ...
in 1964. At age 20, he became the first Venezuelan swimmer to win an Olympic medal in the 200-meter
butterfly Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the Order (biology), order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The ...
competition at the
1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the secon ...
in Los Angeles, California. Although he was one of the smallest men in the pool at 5-foot-11, Vidal was well ahead of
West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
's 6-foot-7 Michael Gross at the finish. However, one of Gross' elongated arms managed to touch the poolside first, robbing Vidal of silver. That heroic bronze-medal finish made him a national celebrity, with his image splashed on magazine and newspaper covers throughout Venezuela. His mark ranks him as the eighth of the top ten swimmers in the 200-meter butterfly of all time. A year later, Vidal left Venezuela to pursue a career in administration and earned his bachelor's degree in computer and information sciences from 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 swam 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 Colle ...
team in
National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...
(NCAA) competition under coach
Randy Reese Randy Reese (born 1946) is an American college and Olympic swimming coach. Reese is best known for coaching the Florida Gators swimming and diving teams of the University of Florida to four national championships, and coaching the winners of ei ...
from 1981 to 1985. Vidal was a member of the Gators' NCAA national championship teams in 1983 and 1984, and received six All-American honors. After returning to Venezuela, Vidal was employed by a local television channel as a sports commentator and became a well-known television personality. In 1998, he founded Platinum with
Cheche Vidal Juan Jose "Cheche" Vidal Noya is a retired Venezuelan association football defender who was a member of the Venezuelan Olympic soccer team at the 1980 Summer Olympics. He was the 1979 Venezuela Footballer of the Year and was the World Cup USA Vi ...
, a pioneer in the application of marketing in Venezuela. Early on the morning of February 12, 2005, Vidal was killed in a traffic accident when another driver crashed his speeding
Hummer Hummer (stylized as HUMMER) is a brand of pickups and SUVs that was first marketed in 1992 when AM General began selling a civilian version of the M998 Humvee. Although discontinued in 2010, Hummer returned as a sub-brand of GMC in 2020. ...
into Vidal's car. 1984: Rafael Vidal wins a bronze medal
," ''El Universal'' (January 1, 2009). Retrieved November 5, 2011. The second driver was participating in an illegal street race. Vidal was 41 years old. A "Million Meter Swim" (Un Millón de metros por Rafael Vidal) was held on February 12, 2006, at which more than fourteen million meters were swum by swimmers from Venezuela and around the globe. The tribute has been held every year since then.


Personal life

On April 10 2017 his mother Flor Marina Castro de Vidal was found dead in her home by her daughter, apparently murdered by house thieves when she resisted robbery.


See also

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Florida Gators The Florida Gators are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Florida, located in Gainesville. The University of Florida, its athletic program, its alumni and its sports fans are often collectively referred to as t ...
*
List of Olympic medalists in swimming (men) This is the complete list of men's Olympic medalists in swimming. Men's events 50 metre freestyle 100 metre freestyle 200 metre freestyle 400 metre freestyle 800 metre freestyle 1500 metre freestyle 100 metre backstroke 200 metre ...
*
List of University of Florida alumni This list of University of Florida alumni includes current students, former students, and graduates of the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida. Honorary degree recipients can be found on the List of University of Florida honorary degree ...
*
List of University of Florida Olympians This List of University of Florida Olympians includes over 150 students and alumni of the University of Florida who have competed or coached in the Olympic Games, as well as current or former Florida Gators coaches who have coached in the Olym ...
*


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vidal, Rafael 1964 births 2005 deaths Florida Gators men's swimmers Male butterfly swimmers Olympic bronze medalists for Venezuela Olympic bronze medalists in swimming Olympic swimmers of Venezuela Road incident deaths in Venezuela Sportspeople from Caracas Swimmers at the 1979 Pan American Games Swimmers at the 1980 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1983 Pan American Games Swimmers at the 1984 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics Pan American Games bronze medalists for Venezuela Pan American Games medalists in swimming Competitors at the 1982 Central American and Caribbean Games Central American and Caribbean Games gold medalists for Venezuela Central American and Caribbean Games medalists in swimming Medalists at the 1983 Pan American Games 20th-century Venezuelan people