MADRID, Spain -- Former Olympic water polo champion Jesus
Rollan, considered one of the best goalkeepers in the sport, died
after falling from a rooftop terrace at a spa.
The president of the Spanish Olympic Committee said Rollan, who
died Saturday at the age of 37, had been at the spa for treatment
of depression.
Rollan won gold with Spain at the 1998 and 2001 world
championships, and at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. He competed at
five Olympics -- winning silver at Barcelona in 1992 -- before
retiring after the 2004 Athens Games.
Alejandro Blanco, president of the Spanish Olympic Committee,
said Rollan had been under treatment for depression at the spa
since October. Blanco said Rollan voluntarily joined a program for
athletes with problems.
"Our meeting is etched very clearly in my mind," Blanco said
in Sunday's edition of El Mundo newspaper. "Jesus was a big kid
who was scared and asked for help, which we of course provided for
him."