Roberto Delgado Martillo (born April 3, 1975) is an American-Ecuadorian former swimmer who specialized in freestyle and

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 ...

events. A two-time Olympian (

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

and

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

), he holds numerous Ecuadorian records in both 100 and 200 m butterfly, and retains his dual resident status to compete internationally for his parents' homeland. While studying in the United States, Delgado has been listed as an all-time Top 10 performer in the 200 m butterfly for the

Arizona State Sun Devils The Arizona State Sun Devils are the sport, athletic teams that represent Arizona State University. ASU has nine men's and eleven women's Varsity team, varsity teams competing at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Divisi ...

Career

Early years

Delgado was born in

Mission Viejo, California Mission Viejo ( ; language change, corruption of ; ) is a Commuter town, commuter city in the Saddleback Valley in Orange County, California, United States. Mission Viejo is considered one of the largest Planned community, master-planned commu ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

to Ecuadorian parents, giving him a dual residential status. Coming from an athletic pedigree, he grew up most of his life in an aquatic field. His older brothers David and Eddie swam for the

Mission Viejo High School Mission Viejo High School is a four-year comprehensive education, comprehensive State school, public secondary education in the United States, high school located in Mission Viejo, California, United States, as part of the Saddleback Valley Unifi ...

team, while his cousin Jorge Delgado, Jr. competed in the 200 m butterfly (2:04.60) at the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and officially branded as Munich 1972 (; ), were an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. It was the ...

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

, finishing behind Americans

Mark Spitz Mark Andrew Spitz (born February 10, 1950) is an American former competitive swimmer and nine-time Olympic champion. He was the Lists of Olympic medalists#Medalist with most medals by Olympiad, most successful athlete at the 1972 Summer Olympi ...

, Gary Hall, Sr., and Robin Backhaus. His other sibling Felipe Delgado was primarily a water polo player in high school, before he officially became an elite sprint freestyle swimmer. Delgado and his brother Felipe shared a sibling tandem in the sport, when they both competed together for Ecuador at two Olympic games. Delgado started his sporting career at age five. He and his siblings were encouraged by their mother to take swimming lessons because of his grandfather's tragic drowning. Being natural on the water in his early childhood, Delgado began competing in numerous age group meets across

Mission Viejo Mission Viejo ( ; language change, corruption of ; ) is a Commuter town, commuter city in the Saddleback Valley in Orange County, California, United States. Mission Viejo is considered one of the largest Planned community, master-planned commu ...

and nearby areas. Delgado attended

, where he swam for the Mission Viejo Nadadores. Coming to the sport more reluctantly, he did not get serious about swimming until reaching his junior season. Delgado accepted a partial

athletic scholarship An athletic scholarship is a form of scholarship to attend a college or university or a private school, private high school awarded to an individual based predominantly on their ability to play in a sport. Athletic scholarships are common in the U ...

to attend the

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public university, public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is o ...

Tempe, Arizona Tempe ( ; ''Oidbaḍ'' in O'odham language, O'odham) is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, with the Census Bureau reporting a 2020 population of 180,587. The city is named after the Vale of Tempe in Greece. Tempe is located in t ...

, where he played for the

swimming and diving team under head coach Mike Chasson. Serving as the school's team captain, he posted a sixth-fastest time of 1:48.74 in the 200-yard butterfly at the 1997

Pacific-10 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I level for all sports, and its Co ...

Championships. In the spring of 1998, he graduated from the University with a bachelor's degree in marketing.

International career

Delgado made his first

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

ian team, alongside his brother Felipe, at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

. He failed to reach the top 16 final in the 100 m butterfly, finishing forty-fourth with a time of 56.29. A member of the Ecuadorian squad, he placed fifteenth in the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay (3:27.77), and sixteenth in the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay (7:54.37). On May 24, 1999, Delgado's swimming career had been overshadowed by a doping suspicion. He received a temporary suspension or a one-month ban from

FINA World Aquatics, formerly known as FINA (; ), is the international federation recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for administering international competitions in List of water sports, water sports. It is one of several interna ...

after testing positive for the banned stimulants pseudophedrine and

cathine Cathine, also known as -norpseudoephedrine or as (+)-norpseudoephedrine, is a psychoactive drug of the phenethylamine and amphetamine groups which acts as a stimulant. Along with cathinone, it is found naturally in ''Catha edulis'' (khat), and ...

at the Short Course World Championships in Hong Kong. At the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

inSydney, Delgado decided to drop all freestyle relays, and experiment instead with a butterfly double. He achieved

B-standards of 56.36 (100 m butterfly) and 2:04.53 (200 m butterfly) from the

Pan American Games The Pan American Games, known as the Pan Am Games, is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas. It features thousands of athletes participating in competitions to win different summer sports. It is held among athletes from nations of th ...

Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. In his first event, 200 m butterfly, Delgado placed forty-third on the morning prelims. Swimming in heat one, he picked up a third seed by almost five seconds behind Chinese Taipei's Tseng Cheng-hua, outside his entry time of 2:08.18. Three days later, in the 100 m butterfly, Delgado challenged seven other swimmers in heat two, including Guam's 28-year-old Daniel O'Keeffe, and Bosnia's three-time Olympian

Janko Gojković Janko Gojković (born April 14, 1973) is a Bosnian former swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle and butterfly events. He is a three-time Olympian (1992, 1996, and 2000), and a member of the Bosnian swimming team since the breakup of SFR Yu ...

. He rocketed to a fifth-place finish and forty-sixth overall in a time of 56.07, but could not hold off a challenge from O'Keeffe, who touched the wall ahead by a small fraction of a second.

References

External links

Roberto E. Delgado
at U.S. Masters Swimming {{DEFAULTSORT:Delgado, Roberto 1975 births Living people Ecuadorian male swimmers Olympic swimmers for Ecuador Swimmers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1999 Pan American Games Swimmers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Pan American Games competitors for Ecuador Ecuadorian male freestyle swimmers Male butterfly swimmers American people of Ecuadorian descent Sportspeople of Ecuadorian descent Sportspeople from Mission Viejo, California Arizona State Sun Devils men's swimmers