Career
He is a 2000 Olympian, an Argentine record holder in both sprint backstroke and butterfly, and a three-time All-American honoree for the Arizona State University swimming and diving team while studying in the United States. Abal accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona, where he played for the Arizona State Sun Devils swimming and diving team, under head coach Mike Chasson. While swimming for the Sun Devils, Abal received three All-American honors, and recorded the second-fastest time in school"s history for the 100-yard backstroke (4826) at the 1999 National Collegiate Athletic Association Championships.
At the end of his college career, Abal graduated from the University with a bachelor"s degree in Industrial Engineering.
Abal competed in two swimming events for Argentina at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. On the sixth day of the Games, Abal placed twenty-eighth in the 100 m butterfly.
Swimming in heat five, he posted a lifetime best of 54.45 to pick up a sixth seed, but missed the semifinals by 0.64 of a second with a twenty-eighth place effort. Abal also teamed up with Eduardo Germán Otero, Sergio Andres Ferreyra, and José Meolans in the 4×100 m medley relay.
Swimming a butterfly leg in heat three, Abal recorded a split of 53.96, a national record, but the Argentines settled only for seventh place and eighteenth overall in a final time of 3:43.61.
