Athletes

Carlos Serrano

Colombia Para swimming 17 August 1998

Colombia

Carlos Serrano Zarate COL takes the Gold Medal in a new World Record time in the Men's 100m Breaststroke.

Biography
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Biography

Human Interest
Data	Value
Impairment Information
Type of Impairment	Short stature
Origin of Impairment	Congenital
Classification	S7, SB7, SM7
Further Personal Information
Residence	Bucaramanga, COL
Occupation	Athlete, Student
Languages	Spanish
Higher education	Technological Units Santander [UTS]: Bucaramanga, COL
Sport Specific Information
When and where did you begin this sport?	He took up the sport in early 2013 in Bucaramanga, Colombia.
Why this sport?	"I always liked the water but could not swim, so my mother put me in a [swimming] course. On the last day the coach Luis Carlos Calderon saw me with my short stature and invited me to swim with other athletes. The sport chose me."
Club / Team	Colombia Sin Limites: Bucaramanga, COL
Name of coach	Luis Carlos Calderon [national, personal], COL, from 2013
International Debut
Year	2015
Competing for	Colombia
Tournament	World Championships
Location	Glasgow, SCO
General Interest
Nicknames	Daniel, Carlito (eltiempo.com, 06 Mar 2017; Instagram profile, 28 Jul 2019; Facebook profile, 15 Jul 2019)
Hobbies	Video games, dancing, extreme sports. (Athlete, 10 Sep 2019)
Memorable sporting achievement	Winning three medals at the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. (Athlete, 10 Sep 2019)
Most influential person in career	His parents and coach Luis Carlos Calderon. (Athlete, 10 Sep 2019)
Hero / Idol	Colombian Para swimmer Moises Fuentes. (Athlete, 10 Sep 2019)
Sporting philosophy / motto	"You win medals in training, you're just picking them up at events." (Athlete, 02 Dec 2017)
Awards and honours	He was named the Best Para Athlete of the Year by Colombian newspaper El Espectador in 2016, 2018 and 2019. (paralympic.org, 23 Dec 2016; Instagram profile, 04 Dec 2018; elespectador.com, 14 Dec 2019) He was named Athlete of the Month for April 2016 by the International Paralympic Committee [IPC]. (paralympic.org, 11 May 2016) He was named the 2015 Sportsperson of the Year by Colombian newspaper Vanguardia Liberal. (vanguardia.com, 29 Feb 2016) He was flag bearer for Colombia at the closing ceremony of the 2015 Parapan American Games in Toronto, ON, Canada. (paralympic.org, 15 Aug 2015)
Ambitions	To win multiple medals at the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo. (eltiempo.com, 06 Mar 2017)
Impairment	He was born with achondroplasia, a condition that affects bone growth. (Athlete, 02 Dec 2017; elcolombiano.com, 16 Aug 2015)

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