Raymond Anthony Papa (born 14 October 1976) is a Filipino swimmer who has competed for the Philippines at the

Summer Olympic Games The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

Swimming career

Papa represented the Philippines in various international competitions including the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

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, 1994 Asian Games in Hiroshima,

1998 Asian Games The 1998 Asian Games (), officially known as the 13th Asian Games and the XIII Asiad, was an Asian multi-sport event celebrated in Bangkok, Thailand from December 6 to 20, 1998, with 377 events in 36 sports and disciplines participated by 6,554 ...

in Bangkok, 1997 World University Games in Sicily, 1995 Pan Pacific Games in Atlanta,

1991 SouthEast Asian Games The 1991 Southeast Asian Games, officially known as the 16th Southeast Asian Games, was a multi-sport event held in Manila, the Philippines from 24 November to 3 December 1991, with 28 sports featured in the games. This was the second time that ...

in Manila,

1993 SouthEast Asian Games The 1993 Southeast Asian Games, officially known as the 17th Southeast Asian Games were held in Singapore from 12 to 19 June 1993 with 29 sports in 440 events featured in this edition. This was the third time Singapore hosted the games after 1 ...

in Singapore,

1995 SouthEast Asian Games The 1995 Southeast Asian Games ( th, กีฬาแห่งเอเชียตะวันออกเฉียงใต้ 1995, Kila haeng echeiy tawan oak cheing tai 1995), officially known as the 18th Southeast Asian Games, was a Southe ...

in Chiang Mai,

1997 SouthEast Asian Games The 1997 Southeast Asian Games ( id, Pesta Olahraga Asia Tenggara 1997), officially known as the 19th Southeast Asian Games ( id, Pesta Olahraga Asia Tenggara ke-19; the 19th SEA Games), was a Southeast Asian multi-sport event held in Jakarta, ...

in Jakarta.

Olympic Games

In Atlanta 1996, Papa competed in the 200 meter freestyle, 100 meter backstroke, and the 200 meter backstroke events. In the 200 meter backstroke, he finished sixth in the third heat by clocking 2:05.69 and finished 25th overall in the heats. In the 100 meter backstroke, he finished second in the third heat by clocking 57.67. He trained with the University of Michigan swim team under Jon Urbanchek while preparing for the 1996 Olympics. Papa made his Olympic debut at the

while training with the Trojan Swim Club in Los Angeles, CA. In the 200 meter backstroke, Papa was disqualified after he had a problem in his preparation. He jumped into the swimming pool before the start of the heat but his googlies fell underwater. He struggled getting his googles back and when he went back to his starting mark he was disqualified by the referee for "deliberate delay". Protests from the crowd further delayed the start of the heat by a minute. He also competed at the 100 meter backstroke and the 4 x 100 meter medley relay. In the 100 meter backstroke, Papa had a fourth-place finish in the second heat by clocking 59.88 but failed to advance to the final round after finishing 43rd overall in the heats. In the latter event, he along with set a national record in the 4 x 100 meter medley relay by clocking 3:53.64 in the third heat for an overall 18th finish in the heats.

Other

Papa still holds the Philippines record for the 200 meter backstroke event with the time of 2:00.96 which he set at the

1997 Southeast Asian Games The 1997 Southeast Asian Games ( id, Pesta Olahraga Asia Tenggara 1997), officially known as the 19th Southeast Asian Games ( id, Pesta Olahraga Asia Tenggara ke-19; the 19th SEA Games), was a Southeast Asian multi-sport event held in Jakarta, ...

. It was also the SEA games record for the event which remained unbroken until 2015 when Singapore's

Quah Zheng Wen Quah Zheng Wen (; born 29 September 1996) is a Singaporean professional swimmer who specialises in individual medley, backstroke, butterfly and freestyle events. Education Quah was educated at Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) and had ac ...

broke it by clocking 2:00.55. Papa held the Philippine record for the 100 backstroke from 1997 to 2019. Jerard Jacinto broke the 22-year-old record. At the 2014 Masters World Championships, he won 3 golds for the 50 meter backstroke, 100 meter backstroke, and 200 meter backstroke. In the 1998 Asian Games, he won 2 bronze medals for the 100 meter backstroke and 200 meter backstroke. In 1997 he was ranked 16th in the world for his 2:00.96 in the 200 meter backstroke, a gold in the SouthEast Asian Games.

Personal life

Raymond Papa graduated from

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

with a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science. For High school, he graduated in 1994 from the

Mercersburg Academy Mercersburg Academy (formerly Marshall College and Mercersburg College) is an independent selective college-preparatory boarding & day high school in Mercersburg, Pennsylvania in the United States. Founded in 1893, the school enrolls approximat ...

. Raymond Papa speaks Filipino.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Papa, Raymond 1976 births Living people Filipino male swimmers Olympic swimmers for the Philippines Swimmers at the 1992 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Asian Games medalists in swimming Asian Games bronze medalists for the Philippines Swimmers at the 1994 Asian Games Swimmers at the 1998 Asian Games Medalists at the 1998 Asian Games SEA Games medalists in swimming SEA Games gold medalists for the Philippines SEA Games silver medalists for the Philippines SEA Games bronze medalists for the Philippines Michigan Wolverines men's swimmers Competitors at the 1991 SEA Games 21st-century Filipino people 20th-century Filipino people