†
Rafael Vidal Castro was a swimmer who competed for Venezuela. He competed at the 1980 and 1984 Summer Olympic Games.
Vidal became the first-ever Venezuelan swimmer to win an Olympic medal when he claimed a bronze in the 200 metres butterfly final at Los Angeles 1984. Although he was one of the smallest men in the field at 180 centimetres, he fought off a sprint challenge against the two-metre-tall Michael Groß for the silver. One of Groß' elongated arms managed to touch the poolside first, slipping Vidal to third. He also aimed to add another medal in the 100, but he barely missed the podium by 0.42 seconds behind Glenn Buchanan in the final.
Early on the morning of 12 February 2005, Vidal was killed in a traffic accident when a driver crashed a speedy Hummer into his car.
Olympic Results[]
| Year | Event | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Men's 200m freestyle | DNS |
| Men's 100m butterfly | 18th | |
| Men's 200m butterfly | 11th | |
| 1984 | Men's 100m butterfly | 4th |
| Men's 200m butterfly | 
| |
| Men's 4x100m freestyle relay | 12th | |
| Men's 4x200m freestyle relay | 10th | |
| Men's 4x100m medley relay | 13th |
1980[]
| Discipline | Round | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 200 metres freestyle | Heats | DNS |
| Final | Did not advance | |
| 100 metres butterfly | Heats | 57.33 |
| Semifinal | Did not advance | |
| Final | ||
| 200 metres butterfly | Heats | 2:04.23 |
| Final | Did not advance |
1984[]
| Discipline | Round | Time | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100 metres butterfly | Heats | 54.33 | NR |
| A Final | 54.27 | NR | |
| 200 metres butterfly | Heats | 1:59.15 | AR |
| A Final | 1:57.51 | AR | |
| 4x100 metres freestyle relay | Heats | 3:30.24 (53.15 split) |
|
| Final | Did not advance | ||
| 4x200 metres freestyle relay | Heats | 7:31.79 (1:51.91 split) |
NR |
| Final | Did not advance | ||
| 4x100 metres medley relay | Heats | 3:55.12 (55.51 split) |
|
| Final | Did not advance | ||