Maritza Correia

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Maritza ("Ritz") Correia (born December 23, 1981 in San Juan, Puerto Rico) is the first black Puerto Rican in the U.S. Olympic Swimming Team and the first Hispanic-American to set an American swimming record.

1 Early years
2 Olympics
3 Currently
4 Highlights
5 See also
6 External link

[edit] Early years

Maritza's parents, Vincent and Anne, from Guyana, moved to San Juan, where Maritza was born and raised. In 1987, when Maritza was seven years old, she was diagnosed with severe scoliosis. Her doctor recommended that Maritza take swimming classes and use swimming as a treatment for her condition. In 1989, her family moved and settled in Tampa, Florida.

Correia attended Tampa Bay Technical High School and joined the school's swimming team. In 1999, she became the U.S. National Champion in the 50m freestyle in the 18 and under category. She was also a four time Florida State Champion in the 100m freestyle. Correia was a member of the 1997 USA National Junior Team that competed in Sweden and of the 1999 USA Short Course World Championship Team which competed in Hong Kong.

In 2000, Correia joined the University of Georgia Lady Bulldogs Swimming Team. She aided the team when they won their title in the 400m freestyle relay. She earned a share of the SEC Commissioner's Trophy for high point honors.

[edit] Olympics

Correia hoped to participate at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. She went to the pre-Olympic try-outs, but she missed making the team. This was one of the lowest points of her life; she suffered depression, became disappointed at the sport of swimming, and needed psychological help. However, a 2000 Team USA member who remains very close friends with her, along with a psychologist, helped her come out of her depression, and re-emerge as a top swimmer.

In 2001, Correia won a gold medal in the 800m freestyle and two bronze medals in the medley and 400m freestyle relay as a member of the U.S. Team at the 2001 World Championship celebrated in Japan.

In 2002, Correia became the national champion in both the 50y and 100y freestyle and was a member of two winning relay teams at the NCAA Championships celebrated in Austin, Texas. She set the NCAA, American and U.S. Open records with a time of 21.69 in the 50y freestyle, surpassing Amy Van Dyken's mark of 21.77 set in 1994. She earned seven All-American certificates and she was awarded the Commissioner's Cup as the high point scorer in the SEC Championships.

In 2003, Correia earned a gold medal swimming on prelim 400m free relay at the World Championships. In 2004, she won a gold medal swimming prelims at the 400m free relay at the Short Course World Championships and earned a silver medal swimming prelims of the 400m free relay at the 2004 Olympic Games celebrated in Athens, Greece.

[edit] Currently

Correia attended the University of Georgia as a pre-medicine major and graduated in 2003, with a degree in "Exercise and Sports Science". In 2005 she won three golds at the 2005 Summer Universiade in Izmir, Turkey.