Rafael Alfaro and Andrew Rutherford

Brigham Young University, owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day saints, is sending two swimmers to the Olympics in 2012. Members of this church are often referred to as Mormons. Rafael Alfaro will compete in the individual medley for El Salvador and Andrew Rutherford will compete in the 100 freestyle for Bolivia, where he lived from ages nine to sixteen.

Alfaro is a sophomore at Brigham Young University and is from San Salvadore in El Salvadore. The son of Rafael and Luciana Alfar, he has a brother and a sister. His uncle, Piero Ferracuti, also attended Brigham Young University as a swimmer and also competed in the 1976 Olympics on the El Salvador team, suggesting this might become something of a family tradition. Alpharo is a business major who also competes in the butterfly on the swim team. His position is the breaststroke.

From BYU’s athletic website:

  • Competed in all seven dual meets for the Cougars
  • Placed second in the 400 IM (3:53.92) and 13th in the 200 breast at the MWCC
  • Ranked second in the conference for the 400 IM, 14th in the 200 breast, 26th in the 200 IM, 27th in the 100 breast and 30th in the 200 butterfly
  • Ranked first for the Cougars in the 400 IM and fourth in the 50 breast, 200 breast and 200 fly

Andrew Rutherfod competes in the individual medley and the breastroke as well. He is from Alpharetta, Georgia, the son of John Rutherford of Bolivia and Ana Rutherford of Peru. Andrew has duel citizenship and lived in Bolivia as a child.

Andrew, a finance major, took time away from school to serve a two-year volunteer mission to Mexico from 2008 to 2010. When he returned, he was on the BYU swim roster and also competed in the 2011-2012 season.

In high school, he was the team captain and won a large number of awards. He was team MVP his senior year, won the Athletic Academic Award two years in a row, and was named swimmer of the year by the Atlantic Journal. He was the high school state champion in both his events, as well as in the 4×100 free relay his junior year. He set school records in four events. He has competed internationally for several years.

Sources:

http://byucougars.com/athlete/m-swimming-diving/andrew-rutherfurd

BYU athletic website

http://byucougars.com/m-swimming-diving/pair-swimmers-compete-london-olympics

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