Richard Craig Oppel (born August 10, 1967) is an American 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 ...

who represented the United States 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, South Korea. Oppel earned a gold medal by swimming for the winning U.S. team in the preliminary heats of the men's 4×200-meter freestyle relay.Sports-Reference.com, Olympic Sports, Athletes
Craig Oppel
Retrieved November 8, 2012. Oppel enrolled in the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

(UCLA), and swam for 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 ...

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Big Ten Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF ...

swimming and diving team in

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

(NCAA) competition.

References

1967 births Living people American male freestyle swimmers Olympic gold medalists for the United States in swimming Sportspeople from Keflavík Swimmers at the 1988 Summer Olympics UCLA Bruins men's swimmers Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics Summer World University Games medalists in swimming FISU World University Games gold medalists for the United States Medalists at the 1985 Summer Universiade 20th-century American sportsmen {{US-swimming-bio-stub

See also

References