Fernando Muhlenberg Scheffer (born 6 April 1998) is a Brazilian swimmer. In the 200 metre freestyle, he is the bronze medalist of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, the gold medalist at the 2019 Pan American Games and the South American record holder in the event. He became the world champion and world record holder in the 4x200m freestyle relay at the 2018 World Swimming Championships in short course.

Early life

Scheffer began to gain prominence in the Grêmio Náutico União, and in 2018 he moved to

Minas Tênis Clube Minas Tênis Clube (short, just ''Minas'') is a social, recreational and sports club from Belo Horizonte, Brazil. By 2013, it has more than 73,000 members. Its patrimony comprises two urban units, the Minas I and Minas II, and two country units, ...

. His nickname is

Monet Oscar-Claude Monet (, ; ; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of Impressionism painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. During his ...

, due to confusion about a work of art.

International career

2016–20

At the

2016 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) The 13th FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) were held at the WFCU Centre in Windsor, Ontario, Canada from 6 to 11 December 2016. These championships featured swimming events in a 25-meter ( short-course) pool. Bidding process In Decembe ...

Windsor, Ontario Windsor ( ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada. It is situated on the south bank of the Detroit River directly across from the U.S city of Detroit, Detroit, Michigan. Geographically located within but administratively independent of Esse ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, Scheffer finished 25th in the Men's 200 metre freestyle, 33rd in the Men's 400 metre freestyle and 40th in the Men's 100 metre freestyle. On 27 April 2018, participating in the

Maria Lenk Trophy The Brazil Swimming Trophy (Formerly: Maria Lenk Trophy) is a Brazilian competition played by teams in individual and relay swimming events. It is also known as the Brazilian Open Summer Championship and / or Brazilian Open Long Course Pool Champ ...

competition (long course) in Rio de Janeiro, Scheffer broke the South American record in the 200-metre freestyle race in 1:46.08 seconds. Three days later, he broke the South American record in the 400-metre freestyle race in 3:49.06 seconds. At the

2018 South American Games The 2018 South American Games was a multi-sport event that took place in Cochabamba, Bolivia. It was the 11th edition of the ODESUR South American Games. A total of 373 sporting events are scheduled to be contested across a variety of sports. ...

in Cochabamba, he won two gold medals in the 200m and 4 × 200 m freestyle and a silver medal at the 4 × 100 m freestyle. At the

2018 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships The 2018 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, a long course (50 m) event, was held in Tokyo, Japan, from 9 to 14 August 2018. Qualifying criteria Unlike the World Championships and Olympic Games, nations can enter as many people as they li ...

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, Scheffer made his first major involvement in an international tournament, finishing 4th in the Men's 200 metre freestyle, 4th in the Men's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay and 6th in the Men's 400 metre freestyle. On 25 August 2018, participating in the

José Finkel Trophy The José Finkel Trophy is a Brazilian competition played by teams in individual and relay swimming events. It is also known as the Brazilian Open Winter Championship and / or the Brazilian Open Short Course Pool Championship, despite being spora ...

competition (short course) in São Paulo, Scheffer broke the South American record in the 400-metre freestyle race in 3:40.87 seconds. At the

2018 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) The 14th FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) were held from 11 to 16 December 2018 in Hangzhou, China. These championships featured swimming events in a 25-meter ( short-course) pool. Medal table Results Men's events Women's events ...

Hangzhou Hangzhou, , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ; formerly romanized as Hangchow is a sub-provincial city in East China and the capital of Zhejiang province. With a population of 13 million, the municipality comprises ten districts, two counti ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, Fernando Scheffer, along with

Luiz Altamir Melo Luiz Altamir Lopes Melo (born 9 May 1996 in Boa Vista) is a Brazilian swimmer. International career 2013–16 He was at the 2013 FINA World Junior Swimming Championships, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, where he finished 5th in the 200-metr ...

Leonardo Coelho Santos Leonardo Coelho Santos (born 10 April 1995 in Rio de Janeiro) is a Brazilian swimmer. International career At the 2018 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) in Hangzhou, China, Leonardo Santos, along with Luiz Altamir Melo, Fernando Scheff ...

and

Breno Correia Breno Martins Correia (born 19 February 1999) is a Brazilian swimmer. Early life He started in the ACEB team of Bahia where, under the command of Márcio Cunha and Luiz Arapiraca, he won the first medals from Mirim to Petiz I. With his father ...

, surprised the world by winning the gold medal in the Men's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay, breaking the world record, with a time of 6:46.81. The relay was composed only of young people between 19 and 23 years and was not favorite to gold. In the Men's 400 metre freestyle, he broke the South American record at heats, with a time of 3:39.10. He finished 8th in the final. On 21 December 2018, at the Porto Alegre Open in Brazil, he broke the long-course South American record in the 200-metre freestyle with a time of 1:45.51. It was the fourth fastest time in the world in 2018. He broke five South American records in 2018. At the

2019 World Aquatics Championships The 2019 World Aquatics Championships were the 18th FINA World Aquatics Championships, held in Gwangju, South Korea from 12 to 28 July 2019. The city had previously hosted the 2015 Summer Universiade aquatics events in the same venues.

Gwangju Gwangju (; ), formerly romanized as Kwangju, is South Korea's list of cities in South Korea, sixth-largest metropolis. It is a designated Special cities of South Korea, metropolitan city under the direct control of the central government's Home ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

, Brazil's young 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay team, now with

João de Lucca João Bevilaqua de Lucca (born 6 January 1990 in Rio de Janeiro) is a Brazilian swimmer. He won the silver medal in the 4×200-metre freestyle at the 2006 FINA Youth World Swimming Championships in Rio de Janeiro, and the bronze medal in the ...

instead of

, lowered the South American record in almost 3 seconds, with a time of 7:07.12, at heats. They finished 7th, with a time of 7:07.64 in the final. It was the first time that Brazil's 4x200m freestyle relay had qualified for a World Championships final. The result qualified Brazil for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. In the Men's 200 metre freestyle, he was very close to qualify for the final, finishing 9th, just eight milliseconds from 8th place. He swam near his South American record, finishing 1:45.83 in the semifinals. At the

2019 Pan American Games The 2019 Pan American Games (), officially the XVIII Pan American Games () and commonly known as Lima 2019, were a multi-sport event governed by the Panam Sports Organization held in Lima, Peru from July 26 to August 11, 2019, with preliminar ...

held in

Lima Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

, Scheffer won two gold medals in the Men's 200 metre freestyle and in the Men's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay, breaking the Pan American Games record in the relay. He also won the silver medal in the Men's 400 metre freestyle.

2020 Summer Olympics

At the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

in Tokyo, Scheffer broke the South American record in the Men's 200 metre freestyle heats, with a time of 1:45.05, ranking 2nd for the semifinal. After qualifying with the last place in the semifinals, Scheffer outperformed himself again in the final, beating his South American record again by a wide margin, with a time of 1:44.66, obtaining the bronze medal, repeating the feat of

Gustavo Borges Gustavo França Borges (born 2 December 1972) is a Brazilian former competitive swimming (sport), swimmer. He swam for Brazil in four Summer Olympic Games: Brazil at the 1992 Summer Olympics, 1992, Brazil at the 1996 Summer Olympics, 1996, Braz ...

, the last Brazilian to obtain an Olympic medal in this event. Scheffer lowered the South American record by almost 1 second at the Olympics to win the medal.

2021–24

At the

2021 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) The 15th FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) were held from 16 to 21 December 2021 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. It was previously scheduled for 13 to 18 December but moved back three days on 24 February 2021. Originally scheduled to be ...

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi is the capital city of the United Arab Emirates. The city is the seat of the Abu Dhabi Central Capital District, the capital city of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and the UAE's List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, second-most popu ...

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

, in the Men's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay, the Brazilian relay, composed by Scheffer,

Murilo Sartori Murilo Setin Sartori (born 18 May 2002) is a Brazilian swimmer who competed for the University of Louisville, and was an Olympic participant for Brazil in the 2020 Tokyo and 2024 Paris Olympics in the 200-meter freestyle and 200-meter freestyle ...

Kaique Alves Kaique is a common given name in Brazil, and may refer to: * Kaique (footballer) (born 1999), full name Kaique Vergilio da Silva, Brazilian football forward * Kaique Kenji (born 2006), Brazilian football winger * Kaique Pereira (born 2003), Brazili ...

and

, again obtained a medal, now bronze, maintaining the good performance of 2018, when Brazil won the gold beating the world record. He also finished 7th in the Men's 200 metre freestyle. At the

2022 World Aquatics Championships The 2022 World Aquatics Championships, the 19th edition of the FINA World Aquatics Championships, were held in Budapest, Hungary, from 17 June to 3 July 2022. These championships included five disciplines, with high diving not staged for this edi ...

held in Budapest, Hungary, he did not have a good run in the Men's 200 metre freestyle, finishing in 9th place with a time of 1:46.11. He recovered in the Men's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay event, composed by Scheffer,

Vinicius Assunção Vinícius is a Portuguese masculine given name and surname from the Roman family name ''Vinicius'', meaning "victorious" derived from the latin 'vinco'. The name is possibly also derived from Latin ''vinum'' "wine". Notable people with the name in ...

and

, where the Brazilian team beat the South American record twice in a row, in the heats, and the finals, reaching a time of 7:04.69 and obtaining an unprecedented fourth place in the long-distance World Championships. The Brazilian team just didn't get a medal because of the exceptional performance of Tom Dean when closing the British relay. On 16 September 2022, at the

Recife Recife ( , ) is the Federative units of Brazil, state capital of Pernambuco, Brazil, on the northeastern Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of South America. It is the largest urban area within both the North Region, Brazil, North and the Northeast R ...

, he broke the short course South American record in the 200-metre freestyle, with a time of 1:41.32. He did not attend the

2022 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) The 16th FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) took place from 13 to 18 December 2022 in Melbourne, Australia at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre.

in Melbourne, Australia. Despite having an index for the competition, he opted to ask for a waiver to focus on next year's competitions. Fernando Scheffer pede desconvocação do Mundial de Curta, Brasil vai com 12 para Melbourne
/ref>

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Scheffer, Fernando 1998 births Living people People from Canoas Brazilian male freestyle swimmers World record holders in swimming Medalists at the FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) Olympic bronze medalists for Brazil Olympic bronze medalists in swimming Swimmers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Pan American Games gold medalists in swimming Pan American Games silver medalists in swimming Pan American Games gold medalists for Brazil Pan American Games silver medalists for Brazil Pan American Games swimmers for Brazil Swimmers at the 2019 Pan American Games Swimmers at the 2023 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2019 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2023 Pan American Games South American Games gold medalists for Brazil South American Games silver medalists for Brazil South American Games medalists in swimming Competitors at the 2018 South American Games Sportspeople from Rio Grande do Sul Olympic swimmers for Brazil Military World Games gold medalists for Brazil Military World Games medalists in swimming Military World Games silver medalists for Brazil Swimmers at the 2024 Summer Olympics 21st-century Brazilian sportsmen