Claudia Poll

This name uses Spanish naming customs; the first or paternal family name is Poll and the second or maternal family name is Ahrens.

Claudia Poll

Personal information
Full name	Claudia María Poll Ahrens
Nationality	Costa Rica
Born	December 21, 1972 (1972-12-21) Managua, Nicaragua
Height	1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Sport
Sport	Swimming
Stroke(s)	Freestyle
Club	Asociacón de Natación Cariari
Medal record Women's swimming Competitor for Costa Rica Olympic Games Gold 1996 Atlanta 200 m freestyle Bronze 2000 Sydney 200 m freestyle Bronze 2000 Sydney 400 m freestyle World Championships (LC) Gold 1998 Perth 200 m freestyle Silver 2001 Fukuoka 400 m freestyle Bronze 1994 Roma 200 m freestyle Bronze 1994 Roma 400 m freestyle World Championships (SC) Gold 1995 Rio de Janeiro 200 m freestyle Gold 1995 Rio de Janeiro 400 m freestyle Gold 1997 Gothenburg 200 m freestyle Gold 1997 Gothenburg 400 m freestyle Pan Pacific Championships Gold 1993 Kobe 200 m freestyle Gold 1997 Fukuoka 200 m freestyle Gold 1997 Fukuoka 400 m freestyle Silver 1993 Kobe 400 m freestyle Silver 1997 Fukuoka 800 m freestyle Bronze 1993 Kobe 800 m freestyle

Claudia Maria Poll Ahrens is an Olympic gold-medalist and National Record holding swimmer from Costa Rica. To date (2009), she is Costa Rica's only gold-medalist, having won the country first gold (and second) Olympic medal at the 1996 Olympics in the 200 meter freestyle. Her sister, Silvia, won Costa Rica's first Olympic medal at the 1988 Games. Also as of 2009, Claudia and Silvia are the only Costa Ricans to have won a medal at an Olympics. Claudia also competed at the 2000 Olympics, where she won 2 bronze medals. Moreover, she was the first person from Central America to win a gold medal, and the only until the 2008 Olympic Games when Panama won a gold medal.

Career

Claudia Poll began swimming in 1979 under coach Francisco Rivas and quickly became one of the best in Central America, winning many regional titles.

At the 1996 Atlanta Olympics she won the gold medal in the 200 m freestyle event. The win was the first gold medal for Costa Rica in the Summer Olympic Games. It was a surprising win because she beat the favorite German Franziska van Almsick. Dagmar Hase, also from Germany, won the bronze.

In 1997, she was named by Swimming World Magazine as the Female Swimmer of the Year.

At the Sydney 2000, Poll continued with her medal run and won 2 bronze medals. In Athens 2004, she just missed out on the 400 m freestyle final, finishing 9th in the heats.

At the 2006 Central American and Caribbean Games, she set the Games Records in the 200 and 400 freestyles (2:00.19 and 4:15.01), bettering the time her sister Silvia set at the 1986 Central American and Caribbean Games.

Honors

• declared "Honor Citizen" by the Costa Rican Congress in 1996;
• first Latin American woman to win an Olympic swimming gold medal;
• Costa Rican Sportwoman of the Year in 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, and 2000;
• named Best Latin American Athlete in 1995, 1996, and 1997 by the Agencia Prensa Latina
• named 1997 World Swimmer of the Year by Swimming World Magazine; and
• was declared Costa Rica's Best Athlete of the Century in 1999.

Personal

Claudia graduated in Business Administration from the Universidad Internacional de las Américas, San José, Costa Rica, in 1998. Poll became a mother for the first time on August 8, 2007. Her daughter's name is Cecilia. Claudia's older sister Silvia Poll Ahrens was also a competitor swimmer who won a silver medal in 1988, Costa Rica's first-ever Olympic medal.

See also

• List of Costa Rican records in swimming

References

Records
Preceded by Incumbent	Women's 400 metre freestyle world record holder (short course) April 18, 1997 – January 26, 2003	Succeeded by Lindsay Benko
Awards
Preceded by Penny Heyns	World Swimmer of the Year 1997	Succeeded by Jenny Thompson