National Championship
1961
1,650-yard freestyle (19:42.8+)

1962
400-yard freestyle relay (3:31.0)

A native of Santiago, Cuba, Ruben Roca's '62 success as a student-athlete at North Central was just a foreshadowing of things to come. Roca was a two-time National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics All-American swimmer for the Cardinals, winning the 1,650-yard freestyle national title in 1961 with a time of 19:42.8+ and swimming one leg of the 400-yard freestyle relay in 1962.

He was a key member of the 1961 and '62 national championship swimming squads. He is one of just two North Central swimmers to ever compete in the Olympics, representing Cuba in the 1960 Rome Games. The Cardinal swimming standout lists some of his favorite North Central memories as scoring an upset win over Southern Illinois University in 1959 and defeating Notre Dame in two dual meets. He was part of the second class inducted into the College's Hall of Fame in 2005.