Sylvia Úrsula Poll Ahrens (born September 24, 1970 in
Managua, Nicaragua
)
, settlement_type = Capital city
, motto =
, image_map =
, mapsize =
, map_caption =
, pushpin_map = Nicara ...
) is an Olympic and
National Record holding swimmer from
Costa Rica. At the
1988 Olympics, she won Costa Rica's first Olympic medal, when she garnered the silver in the women's 200 free.
[Silvia Poll](_blank)
sports-reference.com As of 2009, she and her younger sister
Claudia are Costa Rica's only Olympic medalists.
Sylvia also swam for Costa Rica at 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 ...
.
She also won a total number of 8 medals at the
1987 Pan American Games; and 2 of her times from those Games still stand as
Costa Rican Records in 2009 (100 free and 100 back).
Poll was born in Managua, Nicaragua. Her parents were Germans and they settled in Nicaragua where Sylvia and her younger sister Claudia were born. After the
1972 Nicaragua earthquake
The 1972 Nicaragua earthquake occurred at 12:29:44 a.m. local time (06:29:44 UTC) on December 23 near Managua, the capital of Nicaragua. It had a moment magnitude of 6.3 and a maximum MSK intensity of IX (''Destructive''). The epicenter w ...
and rising political tensions, Sylvia's parents decided to move south to Costa Rica only shortly after Claudia's birth. She, her sister Claudia, and their mother are not related to
Marlene Ahrens
Marlene Ahrens Ostertag-Ebensperger (July 27, 1933 – June 17, 2020) was a Chilean athlete. She won the silver medal in Javelin throw at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne with a distance of 50.38 metres. She was the mother of jo ...
, another Olympic athlete and medalist and another Latin American-born daughter of German settlers.
Sylvia Poll is a famous backstroker and freestyle swimmer for
Costa Rica, who won the silver medal in the Swimming at the 1988 Summer Olympics Women's 200 meter freestyle at the
1988 Summer Olympics
The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...
in
Seoul, South Korea
Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 o ...
. Her silver medal was the first medal ever for a Costa Rican athlete.
At the
1986 Central American and Caribbean Games
The 15th Central American and Caribbean Games were held in Santiago de los Caballeros in the Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antil ...
she set the
Games Records in the women's 200 and 400 frees (2:02.80 and 4:17.98). Both records would last 20 years, until her sister Claudia bettered the times at the
2006 Games. Also at the '86 CACs, Silvia set the Games Record in the 100 m and 200 m backstroke (1:04.43, 2:19.32) that also stood until 2006.
Sylvia Poll is now a member of the ‘Champions for Peace’ club, a group of 54 famous elite athletes committed to serving peace in the world through sport, created by
Peace and Sport
Peace and Sport, also known as "L’Organisation pour la Paix par le Sport" is a neutral and independent organization based in the Principality of Monaco and under the patronage of Prince Albert II of Monaco.
Peace and Sport work in areas acros ...
, a
Monaco
Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...
-based international organization.
Peace and Sport
/ref>
See also
*List of Costa Rican records in swimming
This is a list of national swimming (sport), swimming records for Costa Rica. These are the fastest times ever swum by a Costa Rican swimmer.
These records are kept by Costa Rica's national swimming federation: Federación Costarricense de Deporte ...
References
www.databaseolympics.com
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Poll, Sylvia
1970 births
Living people
Nicaraguan people of German descent
Sportspeople from Managua
Costa Rican people of German descent
Female backstroke swimmers
Costa Rican female freestyle swimmers
Costa Rican female swimmers
Swimmers at the 1988 Summer Olympics
Swimmers at the 1992 Summer Olympics
Swimmers at the 1987 Pan American Games
Swimmers at the 1991 Pan American Games
Olympic silver medalists for Costa Rica
Olympic swimmers of Costa Rica
Nicaraguan emigrants to Costa Rica
Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics
Pan American Games gold medalists for Costa Rica
Pan American Games silver medalists for Costa Rica
Pan American Games bronze medalists for Costa Rica
Olympic silver medalists in swimming
Pan American Games medalists in swimming
Central American and Caribbean Games gold medalists for Costa Rica
Central American and Caribbean Games medalists in swimming
Competitors at the 1986 Central American and Caribbean Games
Medalists at the 1987 Pan American Games