Escalas competed on the 1980 and 1984 Spanish Olympic teams, and swam competitively in the United States for the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

Escalas received an athletic scholarship to attend UCLA, where he competed for coach Ron Ballatore's UCLA Bruins swimming and diving team in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) competition.

A sports center in Palma de Mallorca is named after Rafa and his brother, Juan Enrique: Germans Escalas.

The commission was established to maintain the standards of swimwear and limit the impact that advanced technology might have on performance.

FINA set January 1, 2010 as the date that polyurethane suits were banned from competitive swimming.