BUENOS AIRES, Argentina – Harvard men's swimming and diving student-athlete Anthony Rincon earned three gold medals and two new personal best marks at the 21st South American Championships held in Buenos Aires, Argentina from March 16-19. Rincon, representing Colombia, clocked 55.62 and 2:01.51 LCM in the 100 and 200 backstrokes, respectively. His 4x100 medley relay team also claimed Colombia's first gold medal in the event.
 
The annual games were held at the same venue used for the 2018 Youth Olympic Games and included contingents from Brazil, Argentina and Chile, in addition to Rincon's Colombia. The ultimate goal Rincon is to qualify and represent Colombia at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, currently set to run July 23-August 8, 2021.
 
"I think the meet served as a great steppingstone toward my Olympic goals and I feel grateful to be supported by both the Colombian National team and Harvard swim team in this process" Rincon noted. "Despite only spending a short time with them so far-Kevin, Sam, and my teammates have played a pivotal role in my progress as a swimmer and individual."

"I learned a lot about how my race strategies should work and what an ideal race should look like for me. Before and after each race, Kevin and I would discuss areas where each of us thought I did well or where I could've tweaked something to swim a better race. These conversations gave me more methodical ways of thinking about my races that made it easier to focus on swimming fast."
 
"My favorite swim of the meet was definitely our 4x100 medley relay. Historically, Colombia has never won a gold medal at the South American Championships and is always the underdog in the event. Despite the fact that we weren't the favorites to win, our team came together to beat our Argentine and Brazilian rivals and took home the gold—Colombia's first ever."
 
Rincon's next meet will be in the United States, where he will compete at the TYR Pro Series in Indianapolis in mid-May with fellow Harvard teammates Dean Farris, Arik Katz, and Gunner Grant.