Eulalio Ríos Alemán

Eulalio Ríos

Eulalio Ríos with Marco Antonio Muñoz, governor of Veracruz. ca. 1955
Personal information
Full name	Eulalio Ríos Alemán
Nationality	Mexico
Born	(1935-01-21)21 January 1935 Huajuapan de León, Mexico
Died	21 January 1980(1980-01-21) (aged 45)
Height	1.62 m (5 ft 4 in)
Weight	75 kg (165 lb)
Sport
Sport	Swimming
Strokes	Butterfly
Medal record Men's swimming Competitor for  Mexico Pan American Games Gold 1955 Mexico City 200 m butterfly Bronze 1955 Mexico City 4x100 m medley Bronze 1959 Chicago 200 m butterfly Bronze 1959 Chicago 4x100 m medley

Eulalio Ríos Alemán (21 January 1935^[1] – ca. 1980) was a Mexican Olympic swimmer.

Family

He was born to a poor family in a village near Xalapa, Veracruz, and from a young age trained to swim against the current of a brook that passed near his house, in Hueyapan de Ocampo, to the south of Catemaco on the way to Coatzacoalcos.

Early years

He was already a fast freestyle swimmer with a thudding kick when he went to Xalapa to study law and to be coached in swimming.

In 1956 he learned the butterfly stroke under the guidance of his trainer Antonio Murrieta and watched an exhibition of the (by that time) "new dolphin kick" technique by the experienced swimmer Walter Ocampo, of Mexico City's Centro Deportivo Chapultepec.

He practiced and learned quickly in the cold waters of the rustic pool "La PLaya", near Los Berros park in Xalapa.

Within a few months he swam successfully in the olympic trials and was ready to compete for Mexico in the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games.

Competitions, records, prizes

• Panamerican Games
• Centroamerican Games
• USA Open National Championships
• 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games: He competed in the 200 meters butterfly, passed the qualifications heats and participated in the final, becoming the first Mexican swimmer to have done so in Olympic Games.

See: 200 m butterfly final in 1956

• 1960 Rome Olympic Games Eulalio reached the semifinals.

See: 200 m butterfly semifinal #1 in 1960.

• "Trofeo Latinoamericano Cabeza De Palenque" awarded by the International Swimming Hall Of Fame" (at Fort Lauderdale, FL) "for the 1956 Olympics where he placed 6th in the 200m fly".^[2]

Notes