Pablo Morales had been retired from competitive swimming for three years when, at age 27, he decided to make a comeback and train for the 1992 Olympics. His return to the sport created one of the most memorable and talked-about performances of those Games.
Morales, '87, is the son of Cuban-born immigrants who settled in Chicago in the late 1950s. His father, Pablo Sr., made $1 an hour unloading railroad cars, and recalls living on canned tuna and saltines for three months to save money.
At Stanford, the younger Morales won 11 individual NCAA swim championships, a record at the time. Swimming World magazine described him as "the next Mark Spitz," referring to the 1972 Olympian who won seven gold medals.
That promise began to materialize at the 1984 Summer Games in Los Angeles when Morales won a gold and two silvers. But he didn't qualify for the 1988 Olympic team and gave up swimming to attend law school at Columbia University.
A year before the Barcelona Games, Morales decided to give swimming another try. Though he was a former world record holder, he was considered a long shot to medal because of his age and time away from the sport.
His moment came in the final of the 100-meter butterfly. Leading halfway through the race, Morales faded near the finish but touched .03 seconds ahead of Poland's Rafal Szukala to win.
Morales's father came out of the stands and threw his arms around Pablo. "You finally did it, son," he said. "Now you can rest."
Kevin Cool is the executive editor of Stanford.
