Juan Pablo Valdivieso

Olympics At 19, Valdivieso first represented the Peruvian Olympic team at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. Swimming in heat two of the men's 200 m butterfly, he edged out Thailand's Dulyarit Phuangthong to earn a fourth spot and thirty-sixth overall by 0.48 of a second in 2:03.67.

In preparation for the 2004 Olympics during his senior year at Princeton, Valdivieso trained with 2 30-minute swimming workout sessions, nine or 10 times every week, which took up a great deal of his time before the games. He averaged 7,000-9,000 meters or 4-6 miles per each 2 30-minute workout and also performed three 1-hour lifting sessions every week. In the 200 m butterfly, he challenged seven other swimmers in heat four, including top medal favorite Takashi Yamamoto of Japan. He rounded out the field to last place and twenty-eighth overall by 0.90 of a second behind Hungary's Dávid Kolozár in 2:02.79. In the 100 m butterfly, Valdivieso placed forty-seventh on the morning's preliminaries. Swimming in heat three, he saved a seventh spot over Algeria's Aghiles Slimani by 0.24 of a second with a time of 55.98.

Between his two Olympic stints, he attended Princeton University in New Jersey, where he majored in political economy and became a captain of the swimming team for the Princeton Tigers. At Princeton, he swam for Hall of Fame Coach C. Rob Orr.