Jesse Vassallo - U.S. Swimming Team

U.S. Swimming Team

Vassallo Anadón's father moved to Mission Viejo, California, where Vassallo completed his secondary studies. He went to train with Mark Schubert, who would later become the coach of the USA Swimming Team. In 1976, Vassallo Anadón wanted to participate in the 1976 Summer Olympics, which were held in Montreal, Canada, representing Puerto Rico, but he could not participate due to a ruling of the Puerto Rico Olympic Committee that stated that "in order to represent Puerto Rico, a person must have resided on the island for at least a year" (currently, this rule requires for a person to reside for three years before becoming a member of a Puerto Rican national sports team). He did however, participate in the U.S. Swimming Nationals at Philadelphia for the first time, and won his first national title and a national gold medal in the 1,500-meter freestyle.

In 1977, Vassallo Anadón traveled with the U.S. team, winning medals in New Zealand, the Netherlands and France. In 1978, Vassallo Anadón broke his first record in the 400-meter trials for the 1978 World Championships to be held in Berlin, Germany. In Berlin, he broke his record again and won two gold medals and a silver medal. In 1979, Vassallo Anadón broke his third world record in the 200-meter and won gold in the 1979 Pan American Games, held in San Juan. During the gold medal ceremony, Vassallo produced a small Puerto Rican flag which resulted in the entire crowd at the Escambron Aquatic Center singing the Puerto Rican national anthem "La Borinqueña". Vassallo Anadón's experiences in the 1979 Games were highlighted in the 1980 documentary A Step Away. Also in 1979, he graduated from high school and was placed in the list of the top ten athletes in the world, along with Muhammad Ali, Mario Andretti and others by Sports Illustrated magazine.

Vassallo Anadón was unable to attend the 1980 Summer Olympics held in Moscow, Russia because of the boycott imposed by U.S. President Jimmy Carter. He competed in another competition held in the United States, which were held at the same time as the Moscow Olympics. Vassallo made better times in the 200- and 400-meter individual medley event at the competition than the two gold medalists in Moscow.