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Daniel Velez

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Daniel Velez
Personal information
Full nameDaniel Velez
National team Puerto Rico
Born (1983-12-09) 9 December 1983 (age 40)
San Juan, Puerto Rico
Height1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Weight77 kg (170 lb)
Sport
SportSwimming
StrokesBreaststroke
College teamNorth Carolina State University (U.S.)
CoachBrooks Teal (U.S.)

Daniel Velez (born December 9, 1983) is a Puerto Rican retired swimmer, who specialized in breaststroke events.[1] He represented his nation Puerto Rico at the 2008 Summer Olympics, and has won a career total of three medals (two golds and one bronze) at the 2005 Maccabiah Games in Netanya, Israel.[2][3] Velez was also a member of the NC State Wolfpack swimming and diving team under head coach Brooks Teal, while pursuing his degree in psychology at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, North Carolina.[4]

Velez competed for the Puerto Rican squad in the men's 100 m breaststroke at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.[4] Five months before the Games, he threw down a lifetime best of 1:03.63 to slip past the FINA B-cut (1:03.72) by almost a tenth of a second (0.1) at the All-American Championships in Austin, Texas, United States.[5][6] Velez slipped to the front from lane one to touch the wall first in heat three with a remarkable Puerto Rican record in 1:01.80, slashing 1.83 seconds off his own entry standard and beating India's Sandeep Sejwal, who finished behind him, in a close finish by only a small fraction of a second.[7] Despite his outstanding feat in the heats, Velez ended his Olympic campaign with a thirty-third place overall finish and did not advance to the semifinals.[8]

References

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  1. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Daniel Velez". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 24 November 2012.
  2. ^ Baron, Seth (13 July 2005). "Dan Velez Sets Maccabiah Games Mark in Winning the 100 Breaststroke". Swimming World Magazine. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
  3. ^ "Dan Velez Wins Bronze at World Maccabiah Games in Israel". CBS Sports Network. 12 July 2005. Archived from the original on April 13, 2016. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
  4. ^ a b "Velez hopes to represent Puerto Rico". LSU Now. 11 February 2008. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
  5. ^ "Olympic Cut Sheet – Men's 100m Breaststroke" (PDF). Swimming World Magazine. p. 27. Retrieved 9 April 2013.
  6. ^ Perez, Osman. "Daniel Vélez - Natación". El Nuevo Día. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
  7. ^ Morris, Langdon (20 August 2008). "Wolfpack Olympians shine in Beijing". Technician. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
  8. ^ "Swimming: Men's 100m Breaststroke Heat 3". Beijing 2008. NBC Olympics. Archived from the original on 21 August 2012. Retrieved 24 November 2012.
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