19/12/2024
FINALLY, BRAZILIAN CHAMPION 🇧🇷
This year, 2024, I focused on the Brazilian Open Water Championship. There were 8 stages and 11 races: 8 of 5km and 3 of 10km. I earned 11 podiums and 11 Brazilian medals, swimming a total of 70km across all 11 races. Last weekend, on December 6th, 7th, and 8th, I competed in the final stage at Praia de Inema in Salvador, Bahia. Today, at the age of 13, I can proudly say that I am the BRAZILIAN OPEN WATER CHAMPION in the Youth Category, a class just before the professional level.
The journey was challenging: swimming with manatees in Fortaleza, seeing signs in Palmas warning not to feed the piranhas in the Tocantins River, facing a 2.5-meter low tide in São Luiz do Maranhão, braving 18-degree Celsius (64°F) water in São Paulo at the Billings Reservoir, encountering stingrays in the Baía de Todos os Santos, and competing against very strong athletes. It was a long road—over 25,000 km of travel for competitions—with alternative schedules to save money, sleepless nights in the car or at airports, and countless experiences that pushed us out of our comfort zone.
A special thanks to my supporters: .log.br, , .itajai, , and their collaborators for helping me make up for missed school exams; for encouraging all athletes to embrace this challenging sport; my coach, , for his patience, persistence, and guidance; and .treinamentofuncional, my physical trainer.
Finally, thank you so much to everyone who believed in this dream. It's incredible to know there are people cheering for me. To my parents, my infinite gratitude for doing everything to support me and allowing me to focus entirely on training and competitions.
And above all, I thank God—because without Him, none of this would have been possible.
