Arsenio López

For other people named Alex Lopez, see Alex Lopez (disambiguation).

Arsenio López
Personal information
Full nameArsenio Alexander López
Rosario
Nickname"Alex"
National team Puerto Rico
Born (1979-05-03) May 3, 1979 (age 45)
Humacao, Puerto Rico
Height1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Weight84 kg (185 lb)
Sport
SportSwimming
StrokesBreaststroke, medley
ClubBolles School Swim Club
College teamUniversity of Florida
CoachGregg Troy

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.[1]

Early life and education

Lopez was born in Humacao, Puerto Rico. He attended the Bolles School in Jacksonville, Florida, where he was a member of the Bolles School Swimming Club. Lopez accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where he competed for the Florida Gators swimming and diving team under coach Gregg Troy. He majored in civil engineering at the university.

Career

Lopez made his Olympic debut, as a 17-year-old teen, at the 1996 Summer Olympics 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).[2][3] 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).[4]

At the 2000 Summer Olympics 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.[5] 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 in 2:06.49.[6] 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 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.[7] He challenged seven other swimmers in the same heat as Sydney, including four-time Olympian Ratapong Sirisanont (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 of Iceland. Lopez ended his third Olympic stint by sharing a thirty-fifth place tie with New Zealand's Ben Labowitch on the morning prelims.[8][9]

Lopez latterly moved into sportswear design. He was responsible for the Netherlands strip, worn at the 2022 FIFA World Cup held in Qatar.

See also

References

  1. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Arsenio López". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on April 18, 2020. Retrieved May 5, 2013.
  2. ^ "Atlanta 1996: Aquatics (Swimming) – Men's 200m Individual Medley Heat 2" (PDF). Atlanta 1996. LA84 Foundation. p. 48. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 23, 2011. Retrieved April 28, 2013.
  3. ^ "Atlanta 1996: Aquatics (Swimming) – Men's 400m Individual Medley Heat 1" (PDF). Atlanta 1996. LA84 Foundation. p. 50. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 23, 2011. Retrieved April 28, 2013.
  4. ^ "Atlanta 1996: Aquatics (Swimming) – Men's 4×100m Freestyle Relay Heat 3" (PDF). Atlanta 1996. LA84 Foundation. p. 51. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 23, 2011. Retrieved April 28, 2013.
  5. ^ "Sydney 2000: Swimming – Men's 100m Breaststroke Heat 4" (PDF). Sydney 2000. LA84 Foundation. p. 240. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 19, 2011. Retrieved April 19, 2013.
  6. ^ "Sydney 2000: Swimming – Men's 200m Individual Medley Heat 3" (PDF). Sydney 2000. LA84 Foundation. p. 308. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 19, 2011. Retrieved April 23, 2013.
  7. ^ "Swimming – Men's 100m Breaststroke Startlist (Heat 4)" (PDF). Athens 2004. Omega Timing. Retrieved March 24, 2013.
  8. ^ "Men's 100m Breaststroke Heat 4". Athens 2004. BBC Sport. August 14, 2004. Retrieved January 31, 2013.
  9. ^ Whitten, Phillip (August 14, 2004). "Prelims, Men's 100 Breaststroke: Kitajima, Hansen Qualify One-Two; Japanese Sets Olympic Record". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on December 3, 2013. Retrieved April 19, 2013.