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Martin López-Zubero

Personal information
Full name	Martín López-Zubero Purcell
National team	Spain
Born	(1969-04-23) April 23, 1969 (age 55) Jacksonville, Florida, U.S.
Height	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Weight	78 kg (172 lb)
Sport
Sport	Swimming
Strokes	Backstroke
Club	Club Natació Sabadell
College team	University of Florida (U.S.)
Medal record Men's swimming Representing  Spain Olympic Games Barcelona 1992 200 m backstroke World Championships 1991 Perth 200 m backstroke 1994 Rome 100 m backstroke 1994 Rome 200 m backstroke 1991 Perth 100 m backstroke European Championships (LC) 1989 Bonn 100 m backstroke 1991 Athens 100 m backstroke 1991 Athens 200 m backstroke 1993 Sheffield 100 m backstroke 1997 Seville 100 m backstroke 1991 Athens 100 m butterfly 1993 Sheffield 200 m backstroke

Martín López-Zubero Purcell (born April 23, 1969), also known as Martin Zubero, is a former competition swimmer and Olympic gold medalist. López-Zubero was born in the United States, swam in international competition for Spain, and holds dual Spanish-American citizenship.

Early years

López-Zubero was born in Jacksonville, Florida in 1969. His father Jose was born in Zaragoza, Spain, but came to the United States to study medicine. López-Zubero grew up as a member of a swimming family. His older brother, David López-Zubero, won the bronze medal in the 100-meter butterfly swimming for Spain at the 1980 Summer Olympics.

López-Zubero attended The Bolles School, a preparatory school in Jacksonville, and trained under coach Gregg Troy while swimming for the Bolles Bulldogs high school swim team. He graduated from the Bolles School in 1987.

College swimming career

His older brother David and sister Julia swam for the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, and Lopez-Zubero accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the university, where he swam for coach Randy Reese and coach Skip Foster's Florida Gators swimming and diving teams from 1988 to 1991. While swimming for the Gators, he won four NCAA championships—the 200-meter individual medley, the 400-meter medley relay, and twice in the 200-meter backstroke—and received fifteen All-American honors. After his college swimming career, he trained under coach Ron Ballatore as a member of the Florida Aquatic Swim Team (FAST), and his older brother David served as his personal trainer and coach.

International swimming career

López-Zubero swam in three Summer Olympics—1988, 1992 and 1996. He placed eleventh in the 200-meter backstroke at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, Korea, and returned four years later in the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain to win the gold medal in the same event while also placing fourth in the 100-meter backstroke and seventh in the 100-meter butterfly. Four years afterward, López-Zubero finished fourth in the 100-meter backstroke and sixth in the 200-meter backstroke at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia.

López-Zubero won world championship titles in the 200-meter backstroke at the 1991 World Aquatics Championships in Perth, Western Australia and the 100-meter backstroke at the 1994 World Aquatic Championships in Rome, Italy, and also finished third in the 100-meter backstroke in 1991 and second in the 200-meter backstroke in 1994. López-Zubero was a five-time European champion, winning the 100-meter backstroke in 1989 (Bonn), 1991 (Athens), 1993 (Sheffield) and 1997 (Seville), winning the 200-meter backstroke in 1991 and finishing as the runner-up in 1993. He also won the 100 and 200-meter backstroke events at the 1990 and 1994 Goodwill Games.

Life after competition swimming

López-Zubero graduated from the University of Florida College of Health and Human Performance with a bachelor's degree in recreation in 1998. He formerly served as The Bolles School's assistant head swimming coach, and was honored as the "Florida Age Group Coach of the Year" in 1998, 1999 and 2002. Lopez-Zubero was inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a "Gator Great" in 2001, and the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 2004. López-Zubero is now the aquatics director at Episcopal School of Jacksonville in Jacksonville, Florida.

López-Zubero is married and has a son and a daughter.

See also

• List of Olympic medalists in swimming (men)
• List of Spanish records in swimming
• List of University of Florida alumni
• List of University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame members
• List of University of Florida Olympians
• List of World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming (men)
• World record progression 200 metres backstroke

References

1. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Martín López-Zubero". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on April 17, 2020. Retrieved March 7, 2015.
2. George Diaz, "UF's Zubero A Key Swimmer for Spain," Orlando Sentinel (July 5, 1992). Retrieved March 7, 2015.
3. ^ "Martin Lopez Zubero (ESP)". ISHOF.org. International Swimming Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved March 7, 2015.
4. ^ The Bolles School, Athletics, Bolles Olympic Medalists Archived 2016-03-26 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved March 7, 2015.
5. ^ 2008 Florida Gators Swimming & Diving Media Guide, History Archived 2012-03-05 at the Wayback Machine, University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 88–90, 117 (2008). Retrieved September 25, 2010.
6. F Club, Hall of Fame, Gator Greats. Retrieved December 15, 2014.
7. "Nine Former Gators Enshrined into the Hall of Fame Archived 2012-10-04 at the Wayback Machine," GatorZone.com (April 6, 2001). Retrieved July 21, 2011.

External links

• Martín López-Zubero at Olympedia (archive)
• Martin Lopez Zubero (ESP) – Honors Swimmer profile at International Swimming Hall of Fame at the Wayback Machine (archived 2015-04-02)

v t e 1988 Spain Olympic swimming team
Men's Competition	José Luis Ballester Ramón Camallonga Joaquín Fernández José Hernando Sergio López Miró Martín López-Zubero Daniel Serra
Women's Competition	Natalia Autric María Luisa Fernández Amaya Garbayo Silvia Parera

v t e 1992 Spain Olympic swimming team
Men's Competition	José Luis Ballester Ramón Camallonga Jaime Fernández Joaquín Fernández Sergio López Miró Martín López-Zubero Jorge Pérez Sergio Roura Carlos Ventosa
Women's Competition	Lourdes Becerra Núria Castelló Itziar Esparza María Luisa Fernández Bárbara Franco Claudia Franco Silvia Parera María Peláez Elisenda Pérez Natalia Pulido Cristina Rey Rocío Ruiz

v t e 1996 Spain Olympic swimming team
Men's Competition	José Luis Ballester Juan Benavides Marc Capdevila Joaquín Fernández Frederik Hviid Martín López-Zubero
Women's Competition	Lourdes Becerra Blanca Cerón Bárbara Franco Claudia Franco Itziar Esparza Susanna Garabatos Fátima Madrid Ivette María María Olay Silvia Parera Eva Piñera María Peláez

• 1969 births
• Living people
• American people of Spanish descent
• Florida Gators men's swimmers
• European Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming
• World record setters in swimming
• Spanish male backstroke swimmers
• Spanish male butterfly swimmers
• Spanish male medley swimmers
• Olympic gold medalists for Spain
• Olympic swimmers for Spain
• Spanish people of American descent
• Spanish swimming coaches
• Sportspeople from Jacksonville, Florida
• Swimmers at the 1988 Summer Olympics
• Swimmers at the 1992 Summer Olympics
• Swimmers at the 1996 Summer Olympics
• World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming
• Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics
• Olympic gold medalists in swimming
• Bolles School alumni
• Competitors at the 1990 Goodwill Games
• Competitors at the 1994 Goodwill Games
• American male backstroke swimmers
• Swimmers from Florida
• 20th-century American sportsmen
• 20th-century Spanish sportsmen