Sports
Open Water Swimming: 2013 Worlds and Grassroots Challenges
Ricardo Cintra recalls the historic Barcelona title and discusses the lack of structural support in swimming clubs.
Brazil's historic campaign at the 2013 World Championships in Barcelona established a golden generation in open water swimming. Coach Ricardo Cintra reflects on the team world title and the missed opportunity to turn international success into grassroots development across Brazilian clubs.
Reflecting on Brazil's campaign at the 2013 World Aquatics Championships in Barcelona brings a mix of pride and reflection for Brazilian open water swimming. Under the technical guidance of Ricardo Cintra, the Brazilian team clinched the overall team title in the discipline, cementing a technical dominance that caught the eye of the sport's powerhouse nations.
During that championship, Poliana Okimoto won gold in the 10 km—the country's only world gold medal at that distance—and silver in the 5 km. Brazil also achieved a historic 1-2 finish in the 10 km with Ana Marcela Cunha's silver, who also captured bronze in the 5 km. Rounding out the medal tally, the relay team featuring Poliana, Samuel de Bona, and Allan do Carmo earned bronze, while Samuel took fifth in the 5 km and Allan secured seventh in the 10 km.
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The Missed Opportunity of Club Integration
Despite their dominance and international acclaim—which prompted coaches from powerhouse teams like the United States and Australia to observe Brazil's altitude training sessions—Ricardo Cintra believes the sport missed the prime opportunity to popularize the discipline. Poliana maintained remarkable consistency throughout her career, reaching the podium in 28 of roughly 40 World Cup legs contested, with 16 to 17 victories.
In 2015, an initiative was launched to integrate marathon swimming into major club structures. Supported by Igor de Souza, a test event was held at the USP Olympic Rowing Lane in conjunction with the Troféu Brasil de Natação at Ibirapuera. The goal was to include open water points in the overall club standings, encouraging clubs like Pinheiros, Minas Tãnis Clube, and Corinthians to invest in recruitment and dedicated marathon swimming training.
However, the project faced internal resistance and was never incorporated into the regular competition calendar. Without the inclusion of open water events in club championships—which would have created age-group divisions across juvenile, youth, and junior levels along with state championships—the sport remained heavily reliant on pool distance swimmers.
According to Cintra, the absence of this structured ecosystem leaves Brazil at risk of relying solely on sporadic individual talents, despite having established icons like Ana Marcela Cunha. The discussion highlighted on Natação Stemma reinforces the need to convert historic triumphs into sustained investment for developing future swimmers.
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