PARAPANS: Putting a Stamp on Brazilian Swimming

At 27, Andre Brasil, a world-record holder in eight different events, will lead a power-packed delegation in the Guadalajara pool. 04 Nov 2011 By IPC

“My big dream in my life was to represent my country, to represent my family and win some medals. I don’t care what the colours of the medals are, but I just want to swim at the same level as the athletes who swim with me.”

Prior to the Parapan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) is counting down the top 10 storylines to watch. Today, at No. 3, we feature Andre Brasil, who will lead the Brazilian Swimming delegation.

Andre Brasil is the heart of Brazil’s swim team.

His surname pretty much speaks for itself.

If that is not enough, Brasil won four golds and a silver at the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games and five golds and two silvers at the 2010 World Championships in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. He is the world-record holder in eight different events.

Despite the extensive medal haul and world dominance, the 27-year-old insists he is not a commended leader just yet.

“I’m not young, but I’m not an old veteran,” Brasil said. “I’m just experienced.”

The experienced, humble swimmer will lead a very strong 223-member Brazilian delegation at the Parapan American Games in Guadalajara, which run from 12-20 November.

The nation finished first overall at the 2007 Rio Parapans with 228 total medals, including 83 golds.

Brasil hopes to come away with another stack of medals – not for himself, but for his country.

“My country needs that. My country needs the medals to advance more in the sport and to help the sport grow up,” Brasil said.

“My big dream in my life was to represent my country, to represent my family and win some medals. I don’t care what the colours of the medals are, but I just want to swim at the same level as the athletes who swim with me.”

Brasil will travel to Guadalajara with a new coach and a solid swimming delegation that includes the likes of Daniel Dias and Edenia Garcia.

In Guadalajara, he will compete in five S10 class races: 50m Freestyle, 100m Freestyle, 100m Butterfly, 200m Individual Medley and 400m Freestyle. He is the world-record holder in both the 50m Freestyle and 100m Freestyle events, and he said the two sprint events will be his main focus at the Parapans.

Along with a handful of Canadians, his teammate and close friend Phelipe Rodrigues will be his main opponent in those events.

But his toughest challenge will be himself.

“I’m trying to beat myself, to beat my time,” he said of his previous world-record performances.

Brasil is coming off solid performances from the Pan Pacific Para Swimming Championships and the Brazilian Open, and the Parapans will be his largest competition before the London 2012 Paralympic Games, where he could swim as many as six events.

He said London 2012 will be the last major event where he swims more than three races because he wants to help Brazil churn out a strong delegation across the board rather than just a small group of elite athletes.

He wants Brazil’s swim team to model itself after Australia, Canada and Great Britain – all of which he believes have very large pools of young, up-and-coming Paralympic athletes.

“It needs to invest more in the younger athletes,” Brasil said of his nation.

“When I was younger, I had a big dream in my life to swim in a big event. It could change my life. It could change my mind in the way I think about sport and about different things to do.”

Now, as the next group of Brazilian swimmers, Dias and Garcia’s lives are changing just as Brasil’s has. Dias and Garcia will compete in five and four events, respectively, at the Parapans.

Brasil’s performance in Guadalajara, meanwhile, will not be just to better his own times, but also to push for a better future for Dias, Garcia and the rest of his country’s swim team.

Perhaps a few more podium finishes would persuade Brasil to deem himself a veteran in the pool.