Krystal Denise Lara (born March 18, 1998) is a Dominican-American competitive swimmer who specializes in the 100

butterfly Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The group comprises ...

backstroke Backstroke or back crawl is one of the four 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 disadvantage of swimme ...

, and 200 backstroke. Her international debut was at the

2018 Central American and Caribbean Games The 23rd Central American and Caribbean Games were held in Barranquilla, Colombia. Asamblea ODECABE, Islas Caimán' (translation: "CASCO Assembly, Cayman Islands"). Published by CACSO on 2012-10-27; retrieved 2012-11-13. Bidding process Q ...

, where she won a bronze and silver medal in the 100 and 200 backstroke, respectively.

Early life

Lara was born in Staten Island, New York, and is the daughter of Frederick and Alexandra Lara. She has double nationality through her father who is Dominican. Her mother was born and raised in Colombia. Lara attended

Stuyvesant High School Stuyvesant High School (pronounced ), commonly referred to among its students as Stuy (pronounced ), is a State school, public university-preparatory school, college-preparatory, Specialized high schools in New York City, specialized high school ...

in New York City and was a member of the swim club Asphalt Green Unified Aquatics. She holds multiple records in her high school swim team, the Stuyvesant Penguins, where she was known as "Krystal the Pistol." She was a student-athlete and NCAA Division I All-American at

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Chart ...

on an athletic scholarship and graduated in 2020 with a major in sociology and minor in business institutions.

Career

Lara's first national stage was at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials, for which she qualified in the 100-meter backstroke. She placed 86th with a time of 1.03.59. At her first 2018 Campeonatos Nacionales FEDONA, Dominican Republic Swimming Nationals, Lara broke five national records which include the 100 freestyle, 50 backstroke, 100 backstroke, 200 backstroke, and 100 butterfly. She re-broke these records at the 2018 Central American and Caribbean Games in

Barranquilla Barranquilla () is the capital district of Atlántico Department in Colombia. It is located near the Caribbean Sea and is the largest city and third port in the Caribbean Coast region; as of 2018 it had a population of 1,206,319, making it Col ...

, Colombia. Lara won bronze in the 100 backstroke, clocking a 1.01.39, just 0.05 shy from silver and 0.09 from gold. In the 200 backstroke she won silver with a time of 2.13.82, also 0.12 away from gold. Lara missed the podium in the 100 butterfly, placing fourth with a time of 1.00.48. Lara broke a 28-year medal drought when she won the bronze medal in the 100 backstroke. She also became the first Dominican swimmer in history to win a silver medal in these games. She was named to the Dominican Olympic team for the postponed

2020 Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

in Tokyo. At the VII Dominican Republic International Swim Open, Lara broke a 34-year-old record in the 200 meter butterfly with a time of 2:15.83. She currently holds 13 Dominican national records.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lara, Krystal Northwestern Wildcats women's swimmers Dominican Republic female swimmers 1998 births Living people Dominican Republic people of Colombian descent American sportspeople of Dominican Republic descent American sportspeople of Colombian descent People from Staten Island Stuyvesant High School alumni Central American and Caribbean Games silver medalists for the Dominican Republic Central American and Caribbean Games bronze medalists for the Dominican Republic Competitors at the 2018 Central American and Caribbean Games Central American and Caribbean Games medalists in swimming Swimmers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic swimmers of the Dominican Republic Swimmers at the 2019 Pan American Games Pan American Games competitors for the Dominican Republic