Axel Frederik Preben Schmidt (30 April 1939 – 10 June 2018) was a Brazilian

sailor A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. While the term ''sailor'' ...

from

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

who competed in the

Summer Olympic Games The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The 1896 Summer Olympics, inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, ...

, the

Pan American Games The Pan American Games, known as the Pan Am Games, is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas. It features thousands of athletes participating in competitions to win different summer sports. It is held among athletes from nations of th ...

, the

Snipe World Championships The Snipe World Championships are international sailing (sport), sailing regattas in the Snipe (dinghy), Snipe International class organized by the SCIRA, Snipe Class International Racing Association (SCIRA) and the International Sailing Federatio ...

, the

Star World Championships The Star World Championship are international sailing regattas in the Star class organized by the International Star Class Yacht Racing Association and sanctioned by World Sailing. American sailor Lowell North has won the most titles, with fi ...

and the Lightning World Championships. He is the son of Preben Tage Axel Schmidt (born in 1898 in

Frederiksberg Frederiksberg () is a part of the Capital Region of Denmark. It is an independent municipality, Frederiksberg Municipality, separate from Copenhagen Municipality, but both are a part of the region of Copenhagen. It occupies an area of less tha ...

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

) and Helene Margrete Jelinski (born in Lyck,

East Prussia East Prussia was a Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1772 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 1871); following World War I it formed part of the Weimar Republic's ...

) and brother of Ingrid, Margrete and Erik Schmidt, also competitive Brazilian sailors. Ingrid is the mother of Torben Grael, Lars Grael, and Axel Grael. He and his twin brother

Erik The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, Eirik, or Eiríkur is derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization). The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-Nor ...

were known as "the sea twins" after winning 3 Snipe Worlds in a row (1961, 1963 and 1965). They also won the

1959 Pan American Games The 1959 Pan American Games, officially known as the III Pan American Games and commonly known as Chicago 1959, were held in Chicago, Illinois, United States between August 28 and September 7, 1959. Host city selection One city initially su ...

and finished 2nd in the

1963 Pan American Games The 1963 Pan American Games, officially known as the IV Pan American Games () and commonly known as São Paulo 1963, were held from April 20 to May 5, 1963, in São Paulo, Brazil. Host city selection For the first time, two cities submitted b ...

Lightning Lightning is a natural phenomenon consisting of electrostatic discharges occurring through the atmosphere between two electrically charged regions. One or both regions are within the atmosphere, with the second region sometimes occurring on ...

and third in the 1961 Lightning World Championships. In the Star class, they were 9th at the 1967 Star World Championships, and Axel was 22nd at the

1980 Star World Championships The 1980 Star World Championships were held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest co ...

with Luiz Amaro as a crew.

Pan American Games

Axel Schmidt sailed at 2 different

: * 1st place in Lightning at Chicago 1959. * 2nd place in Lightning at São Paulo 1963.

Olympic Games

Axel Schmidt sailed at 2 different

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

: * 7th place in Star at Acapulco 1968. * 6th place in Soling at Munich 1972.

References