Sports
How Ricardo Cintra Became Coach and Shaped Poliana Okimoto
From an unlikely start in Santos to the Travessia dos Fortes, the coach details his bet on open water swimming.
In an interview with Natação Stemma, Ricardo Cintra recalls leaving sprinting behind to take over Poliana Okimoto's training. He shares the behind-the-scenes story of building their team in Santos and the vision that led the swimmer to open water.
The journey of Ricardo Cintra as an open water swimming coach began with a leap into the unknown. A competitive sprinter who won Troféu José Finkel medals in the 50m and 100m freestyle representing Santa Cecília, Cintra was disillusioned with the financial returns of competitive swimming in 2002 and was nearing the completion of his Physical Education degree when he met Poliana Okimoto in 2003.
At the time, despite winning the 800m and 1,500m freestyle events, Okimoto had gone six years without lowering her personal bests and was seriously considering retirement. Realizing that the athlete possessed exceptional aerobic capacity but struggled with out-of-pool fundamentals—such as physical conditioning and supplementation—Cintra made a bold proposal: take charge of his partner's training and revive her progress.
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The Pinheiros Partnership and Unimonte Base
The transition required deft maneuvering behind the scenes. To secure training facilities without leaving Santos, Cintra spoke with head coach Albertinho from Esporte Clube Pinheiros. The São Paulo club had no interest in a sprinter, but was looking for a distance swimmer to score points in championships. A deal was struck: Okimoto would compete for Pinheiros while completing all her preparation on the São Paulo coast under Cintra, with initial methodological support from Vanzella, the club's distance coach.
Work began at Unimonte's Olympic pool in Santos. Initially, Okimoto trained alone, but the squad quickly expanded with the arrival of triathletes brought in by Fábio Carvalho, including Paulo Miyashiro, Fernanda Garcia, Fredinho, and Marquinhos. On deck, Cintra also found an unexpected right-hand man: triathlete Roberto Palito, who hung up his goggles after struggling through grueling sets and served as assistant coach for nearly seven years.
The Open Water Breakthrough and Travessia dos Fortes
The plan delivered immediate results in the pool: after just six months of work, Okimoto shattered all her personal bests at the Troféu Brasil. However, the true turning point came in late 2004, when Cintra watched the Travessia dos Fortes in Rio de Janeiro on television, featuring a R$ 10,000 prize for the women's champion.
When the International Olympic Committee (IOC) officially added the 10km marathon swim to the Beijing 2008 Olympic program, Cintra became certain that Okimoto's future lay in open water. The swimmer lacked the raw speed required for the pool's 800m, but she could sustain an aerobic pace that rivals simply could not match.
Her open water debut, however, brought its share of drama. Lacking travel funds for flights, the couple caught a bus to Rio de Janeiro by hitching a ride with the Master Nada Mais masters team. On the eve of the race in Copacabana, Okimoto broke down in tears over fear of the ocean swell and nearly pulled out. Spurred on by the prize money and the presence of top competitors, she plunged into the water, built a five-body-length lead by the first 200-meter buoy, and won the race with a time close to men's champion Luiz Lima, edging out a 14-year-old Ana Marcela Cunha, who finished in second place.
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