Rocky Carson
.jpg) Carson at 2006 World Championships | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Nationality | American | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born |
May 21, 1979 Newport Beach, California | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Residence | Ladera Ranch, California | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 6' | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 175 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Racquetball | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| College team | Saddleback College | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Turned pro | 1998 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Achievements and titles | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Highest world ranking | No. 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Rocky Carson is an American professional racquetball player (born May 21, 1979). Carson is the current Men's Singles World Champion, a title he won for the 4th time in 2014, which is a International Racquetball Federation (IRF) career record, and current Pan Am Games Champion in Men's Singles. Carson was the #1 player on the International Racquetball Tour (IRT) at the end of the 2007-08 season.,[1] and finished ranked 2nd at the end of the 2014-15 season. A California native, Carson developed his game outdoors, and is known for an unorthodox game style that makes his opponents do the work. In 2008, he became the first man to hold the World Outdoor Championship, International Racquetball Federation (IRF; indoor) World Championship, and US Open titles simultaneously.
Professional career
Carson has won 22 IRT tournaments in his career, tied for 6th all time with Jason Mannino,[1] with the highlight being the 2007 US Open Racquetball Championship.[2] He began to play the pro tour seriously in 1998-99, and won his first tournament in the 2002-03 season. Prior to the 2007-08 season Carson had only won 3 tournaments, but that was his breakout season, as he won 7 tournaments including the US Open and finished the season as the #1 IRT player.[1]
Domestic and international career
Carson's four gold medals in Men's Singles at the 2014,[3] 2012,[4] 2010[5] and 2008 World Championships is the most ever for a man, one more than Jack Huczek. Previously at Worlds, Carson was the silver medalist in 2000, and a bronze medalist in 2004 and 1998.
Most recently, Carson won gold at the Pan American Games in Men's Singles for a second time in Toronto in 2015, which was a successful defense of the gold medal he first won in Guadalajara in 2011. His first Pan Am Games medal was a bronze in Men's Singles in 2003. Carson also has two Pan Am Games silver medals in the Men's Team competition.
Carson's other international medals are a gold at the 2001 Pan American Championships and bronze in the 2002 Pan Am Championships, as well as two medals from the World Games: a silver in Men's Singles in 2009, and bronze in in Men's Singles in 2013.
In his only doubles appearance on Team USA he and Jack Huczek took silver at the 2006 World Championships, losing the final to the Mexican team of Javier Moreno and Alvaro Beltran.[6]
In all, Carson has been a member of Team USA on 14 occasions: thirteen times as a singles player and once as a doubles player. He played in eight IRF World Championships: 1998, 2000, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, and 2014 as well as two Pan American Championships in 2001 and 2002, and three Pan American Games: 2003, 2011 and 2015.
Carson has won the US Nationals five times, first in 2000, then again in 2003, 2006, 2008 and 2010.[7] He also won the US National doubles title three consecutive years from 2004-2006 with Jack Huczek.[8]
Personal
Carson is married with two children and lives in Orange County, California. Outside of competing, Rocky stays busy teaching private Racquetball lessons and group lessons for adults and children exclusively at the Renaissance ClubSport fitness resort in Aliso Viejo, California. He also uses Renaissance ClubSport's world-class fitness facility to maintain his athletic physique and strong mental focus. His family also lives in California, along with his sister Dawn Carson who teaches math at a private school. She is known amongst her students as "Baby Dawn."
See also
References
- 1 2 3 Todd Boss. "IRT Historical Data Archive". Todd Boss. Retrieved 2 December 2011.
- ↑ http://www.sirc.ca/news_view.cfm?id=18455
- ↑ http://www.sirc.ca/news_view.cfm?id=60123
- ↑ http://www.sirc.ca/news_view.cfm?id=47660
- ↑ http://www.sirc.ca/news_view.cfm?id=36791
- ↑ "IRF Recordbook". International Racquetball Federation. Retrieved 2 December 2011.
- ↑ "USA Racquetball Singles Records". USA Racquetball. Retrieved 2 December 2011.
- ↑ "USA Racquetball Doubles Records". USA Racquetball. Retrieved 2 December 2011.
External links
| Sporting positions | ||
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| Preceded by Jack Huczek |
Number 1 Men's Pro Racquetball Player 2007-2008 |
Succeeded by Kane Waselenchuk |
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