SALVADOR VASSALLO
Founder, Rise Again Foundation

Salvador Vassallo is someone who has learned, over time, the value of discipline with purpose.

As a young man, he represented Puerto Rico at the 1988 Seoul Olympics and spent many years pursuing goals in sports and later in business. From an early age, discipline shaped his life, and for a long time he believed achievement was the answer.

Over the years, Salvador built businesses and stayed busy chasing success. Yet even with accomplishments and momentum, he began to realize something was missing. Progress without deeper meaning left him restless and searching.

In his thirties, a personal encounter with Jesus Christ changed the direction of his life. His focus shifted from building things for himself to walking with God and serving others. For years, he tried to balance work, faith, and ministry—until his health failed.

A serious illness brought everything to a stop. Salvador lost strength, independence, and clarity. In that season, stripped of what once defined him, he faced a simple but difficult question: how do you rebuild when you can barely stand?

He chose to take recovery one step at a time, applying familiar principles—consistency, focus, and removing distractions—but now with a different aim: healing, obedience, and faithfulness to God. What started as a personal effort to survive slowly became a way to live again.

Through that process, Salvador began developing a simple, disciplined approach to rebuilding life—spiritually, emotionally, and physically. It wasn’t a program at first. It was just what he needed to get through each day.

Today, Salvador leads the Rise Again Foundation, serving people who feel broken, overwhelmed, or forgotten. He shares what he has learned through his own struggles, pointing people toward faith in Jesus and the steady work of restoration through God’s Word.

At 57, Salvador continues to train—not to prove anything, but to stay faithful to the process that helped restore him. His return to the water is not about medals or recognition, but about testimony: that healing is possible, life can be rebuilt, and with God, no one is beyond restoration.