Luana Alonso, Paraguayan swimmer with Olympic tattoo, retires at 20 after failing to qualify

Luana Alonso, the 20-year-old Paraguayan swimmer who competed in college at Southern Methodist and went viral before the 2024 Olympics for a tattoo of the international event’s five rings on her hip, announced her retirement from swimming Saturday.

Alonso had previously hinted that this would be her second and final Olympics, posting a picture on X on Wednesday — sitting in front of the rings — while writing “last” followed by a woman dancing emoji.

But after finishing in sixth during her heat in the 100m butterfly at the 2024 Paris Games, Alonso confirmed the decision for her swimming future in an interview with Claro Sports before later addressing fans in a separate post on Instagram.

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“It’s official!” Alonso wrote in the caption. “I’m retiring from swimming, thank you all so much for your support! Sorry Paraguay I just have to say thank you!”

She failed to advance out of her heat and into the women’s 100m butterfly semifinals — which took place Saturday afternoon — and the final, which will take place Sunday.

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Alonso finished sixth in her heat with a 1:03.09, a time slightly higher than her 1:00.37 from her heat in the Tokyo Olympics three years ago.

“I am very emotional because it was my last race,” Alonso told Claro Sports following the race, according to the Daily Mail . “I am retiring from swimming. I have been swimming for so long, 18 years, and I have so many feelings.”

Alonso, who also swam for a season at Virginia Tech before transferring to SMU, set career-best times in 2023 for the 100m and 200m events in butterfly.

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She competed in the NCAA championships that year, but Alonso wasn’t listed on the SMU roster for the 2023-24 season.

Still, she celebrated her chance to compete in Paris with a social media post in June.

“It’s official!” Alonso wrote on Instagram in June. “Qualified for the Paris Games 2024 ! My heart is happy to represent the country once again! Thank you to my family, friends and sponsors for making this possible! Let’s go Paraguay.”

After Alonso was eliminated, Gretchen Walsh of Team USA, who swims at Virginia, set an Olympics record in the women’s 100m butterfly semifinals — with a time of 55.38 seconds, just two-tenths of a second off the world record that she holds — to clinch a chance at securing a medal.

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