Ariel was born and raised in New York, where he learned to swim at age seven after a near drowning experience at a pool in the Dominican Republic. His father saved him that day, and his parents enrolled him in lessons as soon as they returned to the city. By the time he was nine, Ariel was competing for the Riverbank Redtails, and later for the Apex Swim Team at Lehman College. He went on to swim at Queensborough Community College, where he received his Associates degree in Music, before moving on to earn his Bachelor of Arts in Theater at the City College of New York. A lifelong lover of the arts, Ariel has been performing since the age of eight at Harlem School of the Arts and has taught piano and guitar since high school. At City College, he tutored fellow theatre students in writing IPA’s for dialect work. These passions -for swimming, the arts, and teaching - make Ariel a natural for Imagine's culture, where he is able to incorporate all elements of his expertise in the water. When Ariel isn't teaching, he is pursuing a career in acting and playwriting.