Eulalio Ríos Alemán


Eulalio Ríos Alemán was a Mexican Olympic swimmer.

Family

He was born to a low-income family in a small town in the state of Veracruz, and from a young age he trained to swim against the current of a brook that passed near his home, in Hueyapan de Ocampo, to the south of Catemaco on the road 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 "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