Rafael Antonio Vidal Castro (January 6, 1964 – February 12, 2005) was a

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

n 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 ...

, Olympic medalist and

sports commentator In Broadcasting of sports events, sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as a sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real time (media), real-time live commentary of a game or event, traditionally delivered in the present t ...

Life

Vidal was born in

Caracas, Venezuela Caracas ( , ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas (CCS), is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern p ...

in 1964. At age 20, he became the first Venezuelan swimmer to win an Olympic medal in the 200-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 ...

competition at the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the ...

in Los Angeles, California. Although he was one of the smallest men in the pool at 5-foot-11, Vidal was well ahead of

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

's 6-foot-7 Michael Gross at the finish. However, one of Gross' elongated arms managed to touch the poolside first, robbing Vidal of silver. That heroic bronze-medal finish made him a national celebrity, with his image splashed on magazine and newspaper covers throughout Venezuela. His mark ranks him as the eighth of the top ten swimmers in the 200-meter butterfly of all time. A year later, Vidal left Venezuela to pursue a career in administration and earned his bachelor's degree in computer and information sciences from 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, where he swam for the

Florida Gators swimming and diving The Florida Gators swimming and diving program represents the University of Florida in the aquatics sports of swimming and diving. The program includes separate men's and women's teams, both of which compete in Division I of the National Coll ...

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 under coach

Randy Reese Randy Reese (born 1946) is an American college and Olympic swimming coach. Reese is best known for coaching the Florida Gators swimming and diving teams of the University of Florida to four national championships, and coaching the winners of ei ...

from 1981 to 1985. Vidal was a member of the Gators' NCAA national championship teams in 1983 and 1984, and received six

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 returning to Venezuela, Vidal was employed by a local television channel as a sports commentator and became a well-known television personality. In 1998, he founded Platinum with Cheche Vidal, a pioneer in the application of marketing in Venezuela. Early on the morning of February 12, 2005, Vidal was killed in a traffic accident when another driver crashed his speeding

Hummer Hummer (stylized in all caps) is an American brand of Pickup truck, pickups launched in 1992 when AM General began selling a civilian version of the M998 Humvee. Although discontinued in 2010, Hummer returned as a model under GMC (automob ...

into Vidal's car. 1984: Rafael Vidal wins a bronze medal
," ''El Universal'' (January 1, 2009). Retrieved November 5, 2011. The second driver was participating in an illegal street race. Vidal was 41 years old. A "Million Meter Swim" (Un Millón de metros por Rafael Vidal) was held on February 12, 2006, at which more than fourteen million meters were swum by swimmers from Venezuela and around the globe. The tribute has been held every year since then.

Personal life

On April 10 2017 his mother Flor Marina Castro de Vidal was found dead in her home by her daughter, apparently murdered by house thieves when she resisted robbery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vidal, Rafael 1964 births 2005 deaths Florida Gators men's swimmers Venezuelan expatriate swimmers in the United States Male butterfly swimmers Olympic bronze medalists for Venezuela Olympic bronze medalists in swimming Olympic swimmers for Venezuela Road incident deaths in Venezuela Swimmers from Caracas Swimmers at the 1979 Pan American Games Swimmers at the 1980 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1983 Pan American Games Swimmers at the 1984 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics Pan American Games bronze medalists for Venezuela Pan American Games swimmers for Venezuela Pan American Games bronze medalists in swimming Competitors at the 1982 Central American and Caribbean Games Central American and Caribbean Games gold medalists for Venezuela Central American and Caribbean Games medalists in swimming Medalists at the 1983 Pan American Games 20th-century Venezuelan sportsmen Venezuelan male swimmers

Life

Personal life

See also

References