Martín López-Zubero Purcell (born April 23, 1969), also known as Martin Zubero, is a former 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 ...

and Olympic gold medalist. López-Zubero was born in the United States, swam in international competition for Spain, and holds dual Spanish-American citizenship.

Early years

López-Zubero was born in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

in 1969. His father Jose was born in

Zaragoza, Spain Zaragoza (), traditionally known in English as Saragossa ( ), is the capital city of the province of Zaragoza and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributaries, the Huerva and the Gállego, rough ...

, but came to the United States to study medicine.George Diaz,
UF's Zubero A Key Swimmer for Spain
" ''Orlando Sentinel'' (July 5, 1992). Retrieved March 7, 2015. López-Zubero grew up as a member of a swimming family. His older brother, David López-Zubero, won the bronze medal in the 100-meter

butterfly Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...

swimming for Spain at the

1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad () and officially branded as Moscow 1980 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1980 in Moscow, Soviet Union, in present-day Russ ...

. López-Zubero 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 Jackso ...

, a preparatory school in Jacksonville, and trained under coach Gregg Troy while swimming for the Bolles Bulldogs high school swim team.The Bolles School, Athletics
Bolles Olympic Medalists
. Retrieved March 7, 2015. He graduated from the Bolles School in 1987.

College swimming career

His older brother David and sister Julia swam for the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

in Gainesville, Florida, and Lopez-Zubero accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the university, where he swam for coach Randy Reese and coach Skip Foster's Florida Gators swimming and diving teams from 1988 to 1991.''2008 Florida Gators Swimming & Diving Media Guide''
History
, University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 88–90, 117 (2008). Retrieved September 25, 2010. While swimming for the Gators, he won four NCAA championships—the 200-meter

individual medley Medley swimming is a combination of four different swimming strokes ( freestyle (usually front crawl), backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly) into one race. This race is either swum by one swimmer as individual medley (IM) or by four swimmers as ...

, the 400-meter medley relay, and twice in the 200-meter backstroke—and received fifteen

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

honors. After his college swimming career, he trained under coach

Ron Ballatore Ron "Stix" Ballatore (1941 – April 27, 2012) was an American college and international swimming coach. From 1978 to 1994, Ballatore was the head coach of the men's swimming and diving team at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCL ...

as a member of the Florida Aquatic Swim Team (FAST), and his older brother David served as his personal trainer and coach.

International swimming career

López-Zubero swam in three

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...

—1988, 1992 and 1996. He placed eleventh in the 200-meter

backstroke Backstroke or back crawl is one of the four Swimming (sport), swimming styles used in competitive events regulated by FINA, and the only one of these styles swum on the back. This swimming style has the advantage of easy breathing, but the disa ...

at the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and officially branded as Seoul 1988 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. 159 nations were represe ...

in Seoul, Korea, and returned four years later in the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics (, ), officially the Games of the XXV Olympiad (, ) and officially branded as Barcelona '92, were an international multi-sport event held from 25 July to 9 August 1992 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Beginning in 1994 ...

in Barcelona, Spain to win the gold medal in the same event while also placing fourth in the 100-meter backstroke and seventh in the 100-meter butterfly. Four years afterward, López-Zubero finished fourth in the 100-meter backstroke and sixth in the 200-meter backstroke 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, Georgia. López-Zubero won world championship titles in the 200-meter backstroke at the

1991 World Aquatics Championships The 1991 World Aquatics Championships took place at the Claremont Superdrome in Perth, Western Australia from 3 to 13 January 1991 with 1142 participating athletes. Medal table Medal summary Diving ;Men ;Women Open water swimming ; ...

in Perth, Western Australia and the 100-meter backstroke at the 1994 World Aquatic Championships in Rome, Italy, and also finished third in the 100-meter backstroke in 1991 and second in the 200-meter backstroke in 1994. López-Zubero was a five-time European champion, winning the 100-meter backstroke in 1989 (Bonn), 1991 (Athens), 1993 (Sheffield) and 1997 (Seville), winning the 200-meter backstroke in 1991 and finishing as the runner-up in 1993. He also won the 100 and 200-meter backstroke events at the 1990 and 1994

Goodwill Games The Goodwill Games were an international sports competition created by Ted Turner in reaction to the political troubles surrounding the Olympic Games of the 1980s. In 1979, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan caused the United States and other ...

Life after competition swimming

López-Zubero graduated from the University of Florida College of Health and Human Performance with a bachelor's degree in recreation in 1998. He formerly served as The Bolles School's assistant head swimming coach, and was honored as the "Florida Age Group Coach of the Year" in 1998, 1999 and 2002. Lopez-Zubero was inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a "Gator Great" in 2001, Nine Former Gators Enshrined into the Hall of Fame
," GatorZone.com (April 6, 2001). Retrieved July 21, 2011. and the

International Swimming Hall of Fame The International Swimming Hall of Fame and Museum (ISHOF) is a history museum and hall of fame, located at One Hall of Fame Drive, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States, operated by private interests and serving as the central point for the stu ...

in 2004. López-Zubero is now the aquatics director at Episcopal School of Jacksonville in Jacksonville, Florida. López-Zubero is married and has a son and a daughter.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lopez-Zubero, Martin 1969 births Living people American people of Spanish descent Florida Gators men's swimmers European Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming World record setters in swimming Spanish male backstroke swimmers Spanish male butterfly swimmers Spanish male medley swimmers Olympic gold medalists for Spain Olympic swimmers for Spain Spanish people of American descent Spanish swimming coaches Sportspeople from Jacksonville, Florida Swimmers at the 1988 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1992 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1996 Summer Olympics World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists in swimming Bolles School alumni Competitors at the 1990 Goodwill Games Competitors at the 1994 Goodwill Games American male backstroke swimmers Swimmers from Florida 20th-century American sportsmen 20th-century Spanish sportsmen