Sports in Puerto Rico can be traced from the ceremonial competitions amongst the pre-Columbian Native Americans of the Arawak (Taíno) tribes who inhabited the island to the modern era in which sports activities consist of an organized physical activity or skill carried out with a recreational purpose for competition. One of the sports which the Taíno's played was a ball game called "Batey". The "Batey" was played in U-shaped fields two teams; however, unlike the ball games of the modern era, the winners were treated like heroes and the losers were sacrificed.
Jesús David "Jesse" Vassallo Anadón is a former competition swimmer and world record-holder in the 200 and 400 individual medley, who participated in the 1984 Summer Olympics for the United States. In 1997, he became the first Puerto Rican to be inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame. He was somewhat unique in the scale of his achievements as a swimmer, and in a tribute to his World Records in 1978 was voted Swimming World Magazine's "Male Swimmer of the Year". From 2004 to 2009, he served as the president of the Puerto Rican National Swimming Federation.
Kristina Brandi is a former Puerto Rican tennis player. She was the first tennis player representing Puerto Rico to win a singles match in an Olympic tennis tournament.
Maritza Correia, also known by her married name Maritza McClendon, is a former Olympic swimmer from Puerto Rico who swam representing the United States. When she qualified for the U.S. Olympic team in 2004, she became the first Puerto Rican of African descent to be a member of the U.S. Olympic swimming team. She was the first female African-American swimmer for the United States to win an Olympic medal. She also became the first black American swimmer to set an American and world swimming record.
Fernando J. Canales is a former freestyle swimmer from Puerto Rico and swimming coach. Up until the Beijing Olympics in 2008, he was the head assistant coach for men's swimming & diving at his alma mater, The University of Michigan, and also for the USA National Championship Team, Club Wolverine, home for numerous Olympic champions and medalists. He is a member of the USA Swimming's International Relations Committee as well as the United States' technical representative for the Amateur Swimming Union of the Americas (ASUA/UANA). He is an assistant director of development for The University of Michigan Athletic Department. He then was the head coach at Colgate University. In his first season at Colgate, the women's team took home the 2011 Patriot League Championship, and the men's team finished the meet in fifth place. In 2016 he coached his home country Puerto Rico at the Olympics in Rio. Currently he is the head coach for Pitchfork Aquatics and Puerto Rico.
Lisa Anne Flood is a Canadian former competitive swimmer and breaststroke specialist. Flood competed at two consecutive Summer Olympics, starting at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. There she finished in fourteenth position in the women's 200-metre breaststroke. Four years later at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, Flood came in tenth place in the women's 100-metre breaststroke.
Madeleine Marie Crippen, also known by her married name as Madeleine Plankey, is an American former competition swimmer. Crippen represented the United States at the 2000 Summer Olympics.
The Villanova Wildcats are the athletic teams of Villanova University. They compete in the Big East for every sport; except football and women's rowing where they compete in the Coastal Athletic Association, and women's water polo where the compete in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. On December 15, 2012, Villanova and the other six, non-FBS schools announced that they were departing the Big East for a new conference. This conference assumed the Big East name on July 1, 2013.
Puerto Rico competed in the 2008 Summer Olympics which was held in Beijing, People's Republic of China from August 8 to August 24, 2008. The American territory with a population of four million people qualified 22 athletes in eight different sports. The appearance of the Puerto Rican delegation at the Beijing Olympics marked the commonwealth's sixteenth consecutive appearance at the Summer Olympics, and its twenty-second appearance at any Olympic Games, since its debut at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, England. Of its competitors participating in events that involve progression by heats, six athletes advanced at least one round in their events, and two advanced at least two rounds, with Asunción Ocasio almost medaling bronze in taekwondo. However, there were no Puerto Rican medalists at the Beijing Olympics. McWilliams Arroyo, a boxer, bore Puerto Rico's flag at the ceremonies.
Jessica Marie Steffens is an American water polo player. She was a member of the United States national teams that won a silver medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics and a gold medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics. She also played at Stanford University.
Cynthia Lee Woodhead, commonly known by her family nickname "Sippy", is an American former competition swimmer, world champion, Olympic medalist, and former world record-holder. She won three gold medals at the 1978 World Championships, when she was only 14 years old, and set seven world records during her career.
Douglas Lennox-Silva is a male butterfly swimmer from Puerto Rico, who was born in the United States. He represented Puerto Rico at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, PR China. He is the younger brother of Kristina Lennox-Silva, who also competed as a swimmer at the 2008 Summer Olympics.
Marina Munćan is a Serbian former professional middle distance runner who specialised in the 1500 metres. She represented Serbia at the 2012 Summer Olympics. She holds multiple Serbian records. She is now the Head Cross Country and Assistant Track and Field Coach for Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, in Claremont, CA.
Villanova Wildcats Swimming and Diving is Villanova University's varsity swimming and diving team. The Wildcats compete in the NCAA's Big East Conference. Currently, the Wildcats are coached by Rick Simpson, assisted by Laura McGlaughlin, Todd Michael is the team's diving coach.
Valeria Silva Merea is a Peruvian swimmer/surgeon, who specialized in breaststroke events. She is a three-time national record holder for the breaststroke events, a two-time Olympic swimmer, and a multiple-time gold medalist at the 2008 South American Swimming Championships in São Paulo, Brazil.
Eva Lehtonen is a Finnish competition swimmer who specialized in long-distance freestyle events. Lehtonen holds five Finnish records in the same stroke, including a 1500 m freestyle record that dated back to 1983, before she set a mark of 17:18.16 at the 2007 USA Junior National Meet in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Alexis Márquez Rivas is a Venezuelan swimmer, who specialized in butterfly events. He represented his nation Venezuela at the 2008 Summer Olympics, and currently holds a short course Venezuelan record in the 200 m butterfly (1:59.77) at the 2011 Copa de España Clubes Segunda Division in Castellón de la Plana, Spain.
Yoo Jung-nam is a South Korean swimmer, who specialized in butterfly events. He represented his nation South Korea at the 2008 Summer Olympics, and has won a career total of four medals in a major international competition, spanning the 2002 Asian Games and the 2005 East Asian Games. Yoo is also a member of the swimming team and a graduate of physical education at Seoul National University.
Gretchen Gotay Cordero is a Puerto Rican former swimmer, who specialized in freestyle and backstroke events. She won a total of four medals in both freestyle and medley relays at the Central American and Caribbean Games. She is a member of Athens Bulldogs Swim Club under her personal coach Harvey Humphries, and a graduate with a master's degree in sports management at the University of Georgia in Athens.
Lake Forest Swim Club (LFSC) is a private year-round USA Swimming program located in Lake Forest, Illinois. Since its founding in 1960, LFSC has established itself as a premier swim club locally, regionally, and nationally with over 50 state championship titles and 10 club members swimming in the Olympic Games.
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