Jesse Vassallo

Jesse Vassallo

Personal information
Full name	Jesus David Vassallo
Nickname(s)	"Jesse", "Cheyenne"
Nationality	Puerto Rican
Born	August 9, 1961 (1961-08-09) Ponce, Puerto Rico
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Weight	75 kilograms (170 lb)
Sport
Sport	Swimming
Stroke(s)	Medley and backstroke
College team	University of Miami
Medal record World Championships (LC) Gold 1978 Berlin 200 m Backstroke Gold 1978 Berlin 400 m Medley Silver 1978 Berlin 200 m Medley Pan American Games Gold 1979 San Juan 200 m Medley Gold 1979 San Juan 400 m Medley Silver 1979 San Juan 200 m Backstroke

Jesse Vassallo (born August 9, 1961), is a Puerto Rican Olympic and World Record holding swimmer. He swam in international competitions for the United States and qualified for two-Olympic teams: 1980 and 1984. In 1997, he became the first Puerto Rican to be inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame. From 2004-February 2009, he served as President of the Puerto Rican National Swimming Federation (Federación Puertorriqueña de Natación (FPN)) .

Early years

Vassallo (birth name: Jesús David "Jesse" Vassallo Anadón), was the third child of five siblings, born in Ponce, Puerto Rico to the Vassallo family. He received his primary education in Cristo Rey School in Ponce. His father, Victor Vassallo, who is the brother of the late Puerto Rican industrialist Salvador Vassallo, was very sports-minded and encouraged his children to participate in sports. On one occasion, while relaxing by a hotel pool in San Juan, Vassallo's father asked his sons to compete against some girls that were swimming laps in the pool. The father was impressed with what he saw and as soon as he returned to Ponce, he enrolled them in a local swimming team.

Swimming competitions

In 1971, when he was only 10 years old, he broke a 50 meter backstroke swimming record. In 1975, he won his first gold medal in backstroke at the Medley Relay, held in Colombia. Vassallo's father moved his family to Miami, Florida, where he was to open a branch of the family business, Vassallo Industries. Within three years, Vassallo held various records:

• 100 and 200 meters backstroke,
• 200 and 400 meters individual medley and
• 200 m

Vassallo already ranked among the top ten in the world in three of the events.

U.S. Swimming Team

Vassallo's father moved to Mission Viejo, California, where he completed his secondary studies. He went to train with Mark Schubert, who would later become the coach of the USA Swimming Team. In 1976, Vassallo wanted to participate in the 1976 Summer Olympics, which were held in Montreal, Canada, representing Puerto Rico, but he couldn't due to a ruling of the Puerto Rican Olympic Committee that stated that "in order to represent Puerto Rico, a person must have resided in the island for at least a year" (currently, this rule requires for a person to reside for three years before becoming a member of a Puerto Rican national sports team). He did however, participate in his first U.S. Swimming Nationals at Philadelphia and won his first national title and a national gold medal in the 1,500 meters freestyle.

In 1977, Vassallo began to travel with the U.S. team, winning medals in New Zealand, the Netherlands and France. In 1978, Vassallo broke his first record in the 400 meters trials for the 1978 World Championships to be held in Berlin, Germany. In Berlin, he broke his record again and won two gold medals and one silver medal. In 1979, Vassallo broke his third world record in the 200 meters and won gold in the 1979 Pan American Games, held in San Juan. During the gold medal ceremony, Vassallo produced a small Puerto Rican flag which resulted in the entire crowd at the Escambron Aquatic Center singing the Puerto Rican national anthem "La Borinqueña". Vassallo's experiences in the 1979 Games were highlighted in the 1980 documentary A Step Away. Also in 1979, he graduated from high school and was placed in the list of the top ten athletes in the world, along with Muhammad Ali, Mario Andretti and others by Sports Illustrated magazine.

Vassallo was unable to attend the 1980 Olympics held in Moscow, Russia because of the boycott imposed by President Jimmy Carter. He competed in another competition held in the U.S., which were held at the same time as the Moscow Olympics. Vassallo made better time in the 200 and 400 meters at the competition than the two gold medalists in Moscow.

Retirement

After traveling and competing around the world, Vassallo moved to Miami and enrolled in the University of Miami. A knee injury which required surgery, practically ended his career. He graduated in 1985 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Communications. That same year he returned to Puerto Rico, where he met his future wife, Betsy Lopez, sister of the Atlanta Braves baseball star Javy López and of Puerto Rican volleyball superstar Elaine Lopez. After working in his family business in Ponce for three years, Vassallo and his brothers opened "Vassallo Unlimited". This company is a producer of solid surface materials which are used in the construction industry.

Legacy

In 1997, Vassallo was the first Puerto Rican to be inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame. Among the other honors which have been bestowed upon him are being inducted into the Japanese Swimmers Hall of Fame; the University of Florida's Hall of Fame; the Puerto Rican Hall of Fame and the Ponce Hall of Fame. Vassallo has also appeared on the covers of "The Olympian", "Sports Illustrated", and "Swimming World Magazine" among others. He is also recognized at Ponce's Park for the Illustrious Ponce Citizens. As of mid-2009, Vassallo is Head Age Group Coach for Fort Lauderdale Aquatics in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

See also

• List of famous Puerto Ricans
• World record progression 200 metres medley
• World record progression 400 metres medley

References

• sports-reference

Records
Preceded by Graham Smith	Men's 200 metre individual medley world record holder (long course) August 24, 1978 – July 6, 1979	Succeeded by Bill Barrett
Preceded by Rod Strachan	Men's 400 metre individual medley world record holder (long course) August 4, 1978 – August 8, 1982	Succeeded by Ricardo Prado