Valeria Silva

About

Two-time Olympic breaststroke swimmer revered for breaking three national records and winning numerous gold medals at the 2008 South American Swimming Championships. She is also an attending otolaryngologist at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, having graduated with medical degrees from both the University of Michigan and Columbia University. Throughout her athletic career, she competed at both the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens and the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, the latter for which she was the only female swimmer chosen to represent her home country of Peru.

Before Fame

She began swimming at five years old and shortly thereafter, she commenced her training at a local swimming club called Club Regatas de Lima. She competed on the swim team in high school. After graduating, she was awarded a scholarship to train in Australia, which she did for one year before relocating to the United States in 2004. 

Trivia

2008 was a monumental year for her accomplishments, both athletic and academic. She was awarded the NCAA's highest academic award, the Walter Byers Scholarship, and graduated from the University of Michigan. She won gold medals and set a national and continental record at the 2008 South American Swimming Championships' 50m breaststroke event with a total time of 32.53 seconds.

Family Life

She is the daughter of Javier and Luisa Silva, both of whom were competitive volleyball players. She has a brother named Matías who is a professional tennis player and has competed in the Davis Cup. 

Associated With

She competed at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics in the breaststroke events along with co-competitors Leisel Jones, Yuliya Efimova, and Rebecca Soni.