Martin López-Zubero
Encyclopedia
Martín López-Zubero Purcell (born April 23, 1969), also known as Martin Zubero, is a former college and international swimmer
who was an Olympic
gold medal
ist. López-Zubero was born in the United States, swam in international competition for Spain, and holds dual Spanish-American citizenship.
in 1969. His father was born in Zaragoza, Spain, but came to the United States to study medicine. He grew up as a member of a swimming family. His older brother, David López-Zubero
won the bronze medal
in the 100-meter butterfly
swimming for Spain at the 1980 Summer Olympics
in Moscow, Russia, and his older sister, Julie López-Zubero, also swam for the Spanish national team in international competition.
while swimming for the Bolles Bulldogs. His older brother and sister swam for the University of Florida
in Gainesville, Florida
, and he received an athletic scholarship
to attended the university, where he swam for coach Randy Reese
and coach Skip Foster's Florida Gators swimming and diving teams from 1988 to 1991. While swimming for the Gators, he won four NCAA championships—the 200-meter individual medley
, the 400-meter medley relay, and twice in the 200-meter backstroke—and received fifteen All-American honors. After his college swimming career, López-Zubero trained under coach Ron Ballatore as a member of the Florida Aquatic Swim Team (FAST), and his older brother David served as his personal trainer and coach.
at the 1988 Summer Olympics
in Seoul, Korea, and returned four years later in the 1992 Summer Olympics
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
in Atlanta, Georgia
.
López-Zubero won world championship titles in the 200-meter backstroke at the 1991 World Aquatics Championships
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
.
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, and the International Swimming Hall of Fame
in 2004.
López-Zubero is married and has a son and a daughter.
López-Zubero moved to Raleigh, North Carolina in 2011, and now coaches age group swimmers for the Marlins of Raleigh (MOR) swim team.
Swimming (sport)
Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...
who was an Olympic
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
gold medal
Gold medal
A gold medal is typically the medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture...
ist. López-Zubero was born in the United States, swam in international competition for Spain, and holds dual Spanish-American citizenship.
Family background
López-Zubero was born in Jacksonville, FloridaJacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida in terms of both population and land area, and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. It is the county seat of Duval County, with which the city government consolidated in 1968...
in 1969. His father was born in Zaragoza, Spain, but came to the United States to study medicine. He grew up as a member of a swimming family. His older brother, David López-Zubero
David López-Zubero
David López-Zubero Purcell is a former college an international swimmer who competed in three Summer Olympics and won an Olympic bronze medal in 1980...
won the bronze medal
Bronze medal
A bronze medal is a medal awarded to the third place finisher of contests such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The practice of awarding bronze third place medals began at the 1904 Olympic Games in St...
in the 100-meter butterfly
Butterfly stroke
The butterfly is a swimming stroke swum on the breast, with both arms moving simultaneously. The butterfly kick was developed separately, and is also known as the "dolphin kick"...
swimming for Spain at the 1980 Summer Olympics
1980 Summer Olympics
The 1980 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event celebrated in Moscow in the Soviet Union. In addition, the yachting events were held in Tallinn, and some of the preliminary matches and the quarter-finals of the football tournament...
in Moscow, Russia, and his older sister, Julie López-Zubero, also swam for the Spanish national team in international competition.
Early years and education
López-Zubero attended The Bolles School in Jacksonville, and trained under coach Gregg TroyGregg Troy
Gregg Troy is an American college and Olympic swimming coach. He is the current head coach of the Florida Gators swimming and diving teams of the University of Florida; the Florida Gators compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association and the Southeastern Conference . ...
while swimming for the Bolles Bulldogs. His older brother and sister swam for the University of Florida
University of Florida
The University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...
in Gainesville, Florida
Gainesville, Florida
Gainesville is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Alachua County, Florida, United States as well as the principal city of the Gainesville, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area . The preliminary 2010 Census population count for Gainesville is 124,354. Gainesville is home to the sixth...
, and he received an athletic scholarship
Athletic scholarship
An athletic scholarship is a form of scholarship to attend a college or university awarded to an individual based predominantly on his or her ability to play in a sport...
to attended the university, where he swam for coach Randy Reese
Randy Reese
Randy Reese is an American college and Olympic swimming coach. Reese is best known for coaching the Florida Gators swimming and diving teams to four national championships, and coaching the winners of eighteen Olympic gold, eight silver and eight bronze medals...
and coach Skip Foster's Florida Gators swimming and diving teams from 1988 to 1991. While swimming for the Gators, he won four NCAA championships—the 200-meter individual medley
Medley swimming
Medley is a combination of four different swimming styles into one race. This race is either swum by one swimmer as individual medley or by four swimmers as a medley relay...
, the 400-meter medley relay, and twice in the 200-meter backstroke—and received fifteen All-American honors. After his college swimming career, López-Zubero trained under coach Ron Ballatore 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—1988, 1992 and 1996. He placed eleventh in the 200-meter backstrokeBackstroke
The backstroke, also sometimes called the back crawl, is one of the four swimming styles regulated by FINA, and the only regulated style swum on the back. This has the advantage of easy breathing, but the disadvantage of swimmers not being able to see where they are going. It is also the only...
at the 1988 Summer Olympics
1988 Summer Olympics
The 1988 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad, were an all international multi-sport events celebrated from September 17 to October 2, 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. They were the second summer Olympic Games to be held in Asia and the first since the 1964 Summer Olympics...
in Seoul, Korea, and returned four years later in the 1992 Summer Olympics
1992 Summer Olympics
The 1992 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event celebrated in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, in 1992. The International Olympic Committee voted in 1986 to separate the Summer and Winter Games, which had been held in the same...
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
1996 Summer Olympics
The 1996 Summer Olympics of Atlanta, officially known as the Games of the XXVI Olympiad and unofficially known as the Centennial Olympics, was an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1996 in Atlanta, Georgia, United States....
in Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
.
López-Zubero won world championship titles in the 200-meter backstroke at the 1991 World Aquatics Championships
1991 World Aquatics Championships
The 1991 World Aquatics Championships took place in Perth, Australia between 3 January and 13 January 1991 with 1142 participating athletes.- Medals table :-Diving:MenWomen-Open water swimming:MenWomen-Swimming:MenWomen...
in Perth, Western Australia
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
and the 100-meter backstroke at the 1994 World Aquatic Championships
Swimming at the 1994 World Aquatics Championships
These are the results of the swimming competition at the 1994 World Aquatics Championships.-Medal table:-Men:Legend: WR – World record; CR – Championship record-Women:...
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
Bonn
Bonn is the 19th largest city in Germany. Located in the Cologne/Bonn Region, about 25 kilometres south of Cologne on the river Rhine in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, it was the capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990 and the official seat of government of united Germany from 1990 to 1999....
), 1991 (Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
), 1993 (Sheffield
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
) and 1997 (Seville
Seville
Seville is the artistic, historic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain. It is the capital of the autonomous community of Andalusia and of the province of Seville. It is situated on the plain of the River Guadalquivir, with an average elevation of above sea level...
), 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
Goodwill Games
The Goodwill Games was an international sports competition, created by Ted Turner in reaction to the political troubles surrounding the Olympic Games of the 1980s...
.
Life after swimming
López-Zubero graduated from the University of Florida College of Health and Human PerformanceUniversity of Florida College of Health and Human Performance
The University of Florida College of Health and Human Performance is a college at the University of Florida. The college has three departments, and four research centers. The college is unique in that the majors that are offered are inter-disciplinary in nature...
with a bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
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, and the International Swimming Hall of Fame
International Swimming Hall of Fame
The International Swimming Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame, located at One Hall of Fame Drive, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States, operated by private interests serving as the central point for the study of the history of swimming in the United States and around...
in 2004.
López-Zubero is married and has a son and a daughter.
López-Zubero moved to Raleigh, North Carolina in 2011, and now coaches age group swimmers for the Marlins of Raleigh (MOR) swim team.
See also
- Florida GatorsFlorida GatorsThe Florida Gators are the intercollegiate sports teams that represent the University of Florida located in Gainesville, Florida. The "Lady Gators" is an alternative nickname sometimes used by the Gators women's teams...
- List of Spanish records in swimming
- List of University of Florida alumni
- List of University of Florida Olympians
- World record progression 200 metres backstrokeWorld record progression 200 metres backstrokeThis is a history of the 200 m backstroke world record as swum in both long course pools and short course pools – the two categories recognized/tracked by FINA.-Long course:-Short course:-Long course:...