Ismael Ortiz
Panamanian swimmer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ismael Jafet Ortiz Zuñiga (born October 22, 1982, in Panama City) is a swimmer from Panama. He participated in the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens,[1] competing in the Men's 100-meter Freestyle. His heat time was 51.74 seconds, which was not enough to advance to the semi-finals. Ortiz also represented his native country at the World Championships (long course) in 2001 and 2003.
"...I found out I wasn’t going when I read the newspaper! How do you think one feels when your own country doesn’t even tell you that you’re not going?"
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Ismael Jafet Ortiz Zuñiga |
Nickname | Da Ish |
| Nationality |  Panama |
| Born | October 22, 1982 |
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) |
| Weight | 73 kg (161 lb) |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Swimming |
| Strokes | Freestyle |
| Club | Pine Crest Swim Club (USA) |
| College team | Drury University (2005-'07) |
Despite qualifying to represent Panama in the 2008 Olympics with a time below 23.00 seconds, domestic political circumstances prevented him from competing in the games, causing a small public outcry in his home country.[2][3]
He swam for the USA's Drury University from 2005 to 2007.[4] He graduated with a degree in Fine Art in 2008, and currently teaches youth swimming in Miami.[5]
Trivia
- Ortiz is known affectionately by teammates and fans as "The Ish."[6]
- He is also a successful sculpture artist in his own right, having had many shows in both the United States and in Panama.[7] His found-object artwork is reminiscent of the sculptures of Robert Rauschenberg and Jean Tinguely.[8]
- Ortiz is a noted fan of the manga series Naruto, admittedly spending hours on end watching pirated YouTube transcriptions of the comics.[citation needed] Playful attempts at coining the nickname "Pablo Naruto" (cf. Chilean love poet Pablo Neruda), a pun derived from his characteristic romantic Latin machismo and his aforementioned otaku tendencies, never stuck.
Ortiz is also an avid sailor according to the Denver post.