View source for Rafael Escalas

{{Short description|Spanish swimmer (born 1961)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2022}}
{{Infobox swimmer
| name           = Rafael Bestard
| image          = <!-- Only free-content images are allowed for depicting living people -- see [[WP:NONFREE]]. -->
| image_size     = <!-- Only for images narrower than 220 pixels -->
| alt            =
| caption        = 
| fullname       = Rafael Escalas Bestard
| nicknames      = 
| national_team  = Spain
| strokes        = [[Freestyle swimming|Freestyle]]
| club           = Club Natación Palma
| collegeteam    = [[UCLA Bruins|University of California, Los Angeles]]
| birth_date     = {{Birth date and age|1961|2|24|mf=y}}
| birth_place    = [[Palma de Mallorca]], Spain
| death_date     =
| death_place    =
| height         = 1.78 m
| weight         = 72 kg
| show-medals    = yes
| medaltemplates =
{{MedalSport | Men's swimming}}
{{MedalCountry | Spain}}
{{MedalCompetition | [[LEN European Aquatics Championships|European Championships (LC)]]}}
{{MedalBronze | [[1981 European Aquatics Championships|1981 Split]] | 1500 m freestyle}}
{{MedalCompetition | [[Mediterranean Games]]}}
{{MedalGold | [[1983 Mediterranean Games|1983 Casablanca]] | 1500 m freestyle}}
}}

'''Rafael Escalas Bestard'''{{family name footnote|lang=Spanish|Escalas|Bestard}} (born February 24, 1961) is a Spanish former competitive [[swimming (sport)|swimmer]]. Escalas competed in the [[1980 Olympics|1980]] and [[1984 Olympics]]. He also swam competitively in the United States for the [[University of California, Los Angeles]] (UCLA).{{cn|date=March 2025}}
==Swimming career==

Escalas received an athletic scholarship to attend UCLA, where he competed for coach [[Ron Ballatore]]'s [[UCLA Bruins]] swimming and diving team in [[National Collegiate Athletic Association]] (NCAA) competition.{{cn|date=March 2025}} In 1981, he set the NCAA record in the men's 1,650-yard freestyle (time: 14:53.90).  scalas is the only swimmer to win an NCAA championship after being seeded last. He was also a member of the UCLA's NCAA national championship team in 1982.{{cn|date=March 2025}}

Escalas competed in two Olympic Games: 1980 in Moscow, where he placed 6th in the 1500-meter freestyle event, and 1984 in Los Angeles, where he placed 11th in the 1500-meter freestyle. Escalas was also part of Spain's 4x200-meter freestyle relay in Los Angeles. In terms of world rankings, Escalas was ranked third in the world in the 1,500-meter freestyle in 1981, with a time of 15:17.93, which was a Spanish national record for over 19 years.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.rfen.es/publicacion/ficheros/rankingh50.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2016-08-10 |archive-date=2016-12-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161207045950/http://www.rfen.es/publicacion/ficheros/rankingh50.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite Sports-Reference |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/es/rafael-escalas-1.html |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20200418050208/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/es/rafael-escalas-1.html |archivedate=2020-04-18}}
</ref>

==Post swimming career==

In recent [[Summer Olympics]], Escalas served as Technical Director of the Swimming Competition ([[1992 Summer Olympics|Barcelona 1992]]) and Competition Manager of Swimming ([[1996 Summer Olympics|Atlanta 1996]]). A sports center in Palma de Mallorca is named after Rafa and his brother, Juan Enrique: Germans Escalas.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://wikimapia.org/#lat=39.5770487&lon=2.6780033&z=17&l=0&m=a&v=2|title = Wikimapia - Let's describe the whole world!}}</ref> Rafa is currently President and CEO of [[competitive swimwear]] manufacturer [[AgonSwim]].{{cn|date=March 2025}}

Experience as an athlete and as a swimwear manufacturer lead Escalas to be the athlete's representative on the FINA Scientific Commission for Suits (he has since stepped down from the committee).{{cn|date=March 2025}} The commission was established to maintain the standards of swimwear and limit the impact that advanced technology might have on performance.{{cn|date=March 2025}}

==Personal life==
Rafa is married to Jennifer Edson Escalas,<ref>[http://www.owen.vanderbilt.edu/vanderbilt/faculty-and-research/faculty-directory/faculty-profile.cfm?id=98 Faculty profile] vanderbilt.edu {{dead link|date=March 2024}}</ref> a professor at Vanderbilt University, and has two daughters: Elena Escalas, who also swims at UCLA,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.uclabruins.com/roster.aspx?path=swim|title = 2021-22 Swimming & Diving Roster}}</ref> and Marina Escalas.

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Footer Mediterranean Champions 1500m Freestyle Men}}
{{Footer Spain Swimming 1980 Summer Olympics}}
{{Footer Spain Swimming 1984 Summer Olympics}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Escalas, Rafael}}
[[Category:1961 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Spanish male freestyle swimmers]]
[[Category:Olympic swimmers for Spain]]
[[Category:Swimmers at the 1980 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Swimmers at the 1984 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Spain]]
[[Category:Mediterranean Games medalists in swimming]]
[[Category:Swimmers at the 1983 Mediterranean Games]]
[[Category:European Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Palma de Mallorca]]
[[Category:UCLA Bruins men's swimmers]]
[[Category:Spanish expatriate swimmers in the United States]]
[[Category:Swimmers at the 1979 Mediterranean Games]]
[[Category:20th-century Spanish sportsmen]]


{{Spain-swimming-bio-stub}}