Carlos Miguel Benn

A sailor since the age of ten, Carlos Benn’s solitary Olympic appearance was not memorable. His failed to finish any of seven races inside the top twenty and was 25th overall in a 28 boat field.

Immediately after the Olympics ended he cycled from Helsinki to Paris with the intent of studying to become a painter. Whilst in Paris he became involved in the music scene and, after switching to the kena (a South American flute), became a founder member of the group “Los Incas” which played traditional Andean folk music. The group became quite successful in France, released a number of albums and were even asked to perform at the wedding of Prince Rainier III of Monaco and Grace Kelly. Los Incas’ most famous recording, “El Condor Pasa”, became even better known when Simon and Garfunkel recorded English lyrics over the original track for inclusion on their multi-million selling “Bridge Over Troubled Water” album, although it is not certain if the version included on the album included the musicianship of Carlos Benn. Benn issued a solo album in 1975 and he continued to perform into the 21st century. He never returned to live in Argentina and was resident in France for nearly sixty years.