Bacallao, Pedro A.
b. 1937, Havana, Cuba
The short, pudgy Bacallao looked little like an athlete, yet for years he dominated the U. S. championship in one of the world's fastest sports, squash tennis.
He learned to play in his native Cuba, where the squash court has only three walls, rather than four, and he won the Cuban national championship in 1955. Born into a wealthy family, he received a doctorate in law at the University of Havana.
Shortly after Fidel Castro took control of Cuba in 1959, Bacallao came to the U. S. He didn't play squash again until 1965, and then it took him some time to master the four-walled court. Once he did, though, he was virtually unbeatable. Bacallao won the national squash tennis championship nine years in a row, from 1969 through 1977.
He also served as president of the U. S. Squash Tennis Association for many years.