Rocky Carson
.jpg) Carson at 2006 World Championships | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Nationality | American | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born |
May 21, 1979 Newport Beach, California | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Residence | Ladera Ranch, California | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft (183 cm) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 175 lb (79 kg) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Racquetball | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| College team | Saddleback College | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Turned pro | 1998 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Achievements and titles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Highest world ranking | No. 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Rocky Carson (born May 21, 1979) is an American professional racquetball player. Carson is a five time Men's Singles World Champion, a title he won first in 2008, which is an International Racquetball Federation (IRF) career record, and current Pan Am Games Champion in Men's Singles. Carson was the #1 player on the International Racquetball Tour (IRT) at the end of the 2017-18 season,[1] which is the second time he has finished an IRT season at #1. A California native, Carson developed his game outdoors, and is known for an unorthodox game style that makes his opponents do the work. In 2008, he became the first man to hold the World Outdoor Championship, International Racquetball Federation (IRF; indoor) World Championship, and US Open titles simultaneously.
Professional career
Carson has won 25 IRT tournaments in his career (as of the end of the 2017-18 season), good for 6th all time,[2] with the highlight being the 2007 US Open Racquetball Championship.[3] He began to play the pro tour seriously in 1998–99, and won his first tournament in the 2002-03 season. Prior to the 2007-08 season Carson had only won 3 tournaments, but that was his breakout season, as he won 7 tournaments including the US Open and finished the season as the #1 IRT player.[1]
After securing his first pro title for the 2007-08 season, Carson finished ranked #2 on the professional tour 8 times in the next nine seasons, and holds the tour record for most times finishing the year end title race as runner-up[4].
Carson made the finals of each of the first four tournaments in the 2017-18 season[5], then underwent a minor surgical procedures during the December break. He struggled upon his return from the procedure, failing to make another tourney final until the season's final event, but procured enough points in #1 Kane Waselenchuk's absence to guarantee the season-ending title by virtue of making the final in the season's last event in Sarasota, FL. This is Carson's second pro title, coming a decade after the first, and by doing so becomes the oldest player ever to win a Men's pro title in the sport[6]. He secured the title at the age of 38years, 343days, nearly three years older than the previous oldest tour winner (Cliff Swain), who won the 2001-02 season ending title at the age of 36years, 51days.
Carson missed the March 2018 San Antonio event due to a prior commitment to play an Outdoor event, which broke a consecutive appearance streak of 216 tournaments[7]. Carson played every single IRT Tier 1 or Grand Slam event from September 2000 until January 2018.
Domestic and international career
Carson's four gold medals in Men's Singles at the 2016,[8] 2014,[9] 2012,[10] 2010[11] and 2008 World Championships is the most ever for a man, two more than Jack Huczek. Previously at Worlds, Carson was the silver medalist in 2000, and a bronze medalist in 2004 and 1998.
Most recently, Carson won Men's Singles division at the 2016 Racquetball World Championships
In 2015, Carson won gold at the Pan American Games in Men's Singles, in Toronto in 2015, and that was a successful defense of the gold medal he first won in Guadalajara in 2011. His first Pan Am Games medal was a bronze in Men's Singles in 2003. Carson also has two Pan Am Games silver medals in the Men's Team competition.
Carson's other international medals are a gold at the 2001 Pan American Championships and bronze in the 2002 Pan Am Championships, as well as two medals from the World Games: a silver in the Men's Singles in 2009, and bronze in the Men's Singles in 2013.
In his only doubles appearance on Team USA he and Jack Huczek took silver at the 2006 World Championships, losing the final to the Mexican team of Javier Moreno and Alvaro Beltran.[12]
In all, Carson has been a member of Team USA on 14 occasions: thirteen times as a singles player and once as a doubles player. He played in eight IRF World Championships: 1998, 2000, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, and 2014 as well as two Pan American Championships in 2001 and 2002, and three Pan American Games: 2003, 2011 and 2015.
Carson has won the US Nationals five times, first in 2000, then again in 2003, 2006, 2008 and 2010.[13] He also won the US National doubles title three consecutive years from 2004–2006 with Jack Huczek.[14]
Personal life
Carson is married with two children and lives in Orange County, California. Outside of competing, Rocky stays busy teaching private Racquetball lessons and group lessons for adults and children exclusively at the Renaissance ClubSport fitness resort in Aliso Viejo, California. He also uses Renaissance ClubSport's world-class fitness facility to maintain his athletic physique and strong mental focus. His family also lives in California, along with his sister Dawn Carson who teaches math at a private school. She is known amongst her students as "Baby Dawn."
See also
References
- 1 2 Todd Boss. "IRT Historical Data Archive". Todd Boss. Retrieved 2 December 2011.
- ↑ http://www.proracquetballstats.com/cgi-bin/print_results_new.pl?tour=IRT&query=most_tourney_wins
- ↑ SIRC News Hub | SIRC
- ↑ http://www.proracquetballstats.com/cgi-bin/print_results_new.pl?tour=IRT&query=all_top_ten_matrix
- ↑ http://www.proracquetballstats.com/cgi-bin/print_results_new.pl?tour=IRT&season=2017-18&query=finals_by_season
- ↑ http://www.proracquetballstats.com/cgi-bin/print_results_new.pl?tour=IRT&query=tour_champ_age
- ↑ http://www.proracquetballstats.com/cgi-bin/print_results_new.pl?tour=IRT&query=longest_appearance_streak
- ↑ Dropbox - Link not found
- ↑ SIRC News Hub | SIRC
- ↑ SIRC News Hub | SIRC
- ↑ SIRC News Hub | SIRC
- ↑ "IRF Recordbook". International Racquetball Federation. Archived from the original on 7 September 2008. Retrieved 2 December 2011.
- ↑ "USA Racquetball Singles Records". USA Racquetball. Archived from the original on 17 July 2011. Retrieved 2 December 2011.
- ↑ "USA Racquetball Doubles Records". USA Racquetball. Archived from the original on 5 December 2007. Retrieved 2 December 2011.
External links
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Jack Huczek Kane Waselenchuk |
Number 1 Men's Pro Racquetball Player 2007–2008 2017-2018 to current |
Succeeded by Kane Waselenchuk current |