Jader José da Silva Souza (born March 13, 1982, in

Macapá Macapá () is a city in Brazil with a population of 512,902 (2020 estimate), and is the capital of Amapá state in the country's North Region, Brazil, North Region, located on the northern channel of the Amazon Delta near its mouth on the Atlant ...

) is a Brazilian

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

. He started swimming at age 6, when he asked his mother to enter in a swimming school. Away from the major centres of the national sport, Jader has always struggled to participate in competitions and consequently improve his performance. In 2002, discouraged with the situation in his hometown, dropped everything to pursue a dream in Brasilia. But then he began to reap the rewards of their dedication. He was at the

2003 World Aquatics Championships The 10th FINA World Aquatics Championships were held July 12–27, 2003 in Barcelona, Spain. The championships featured competition in all 5 of FINA's disciplines: Swimming, Diving, Synchronised swimming, Water Polo, and Open Water Swimming. ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, where he finished 31st in the 50-metre freestyle, 30th in the 100-metre freestyle and 12th in the 4×100-metre freestyle. At the

2003 Pan American Games The 2003 Pan American Games, officially the XIV Pan American Games () and commonly known as Santo Domingo 2003, were held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, from August 1 to 17, 2003. The successful bid for the Games was made in the mid-1990 ...

, in

Santo Domingo Santo Domingo, formerly known as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city of the Dominican Republic and the List of metropolitan areas in the Caribbean, largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean by population. the Distrito Na ...

, Jader won the gold medal in the 4×100-metre freestyle, along with

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 ...

Fernando Scherer Fernando de Queiroz Scherer (born October 6, 1974) is a Brazilian former international swimmer. He won the bronze medal in the 50-meter freestyle at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta and another bronze medal four years later in Sydney with t ...

and

Carlos Jayme Carlos Alberto Borges Jayme (born 13 June 1980) is a former competition swimmer from Brazil. Jayme was a freestyle specialist and an Olympic bronze medalist. Early years Jayme was born in Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil. International career ...

. He also finished 6th in the 50-metre freestyle, and 5th in the 100-metre freestyle. Jader competed in the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

, in

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

, where he finished 12th in the 4×100-metre freestyle, 15th in the 4×100-metre medley, and 33rd in the 100-metre freestyle. In the 4×100-metre freestyle, the Brazilian legend

said goodbye to swimming at the age of 31. After the Olympics, he lost his sponsorship and stopped swimming. However, he returned in 2005. At the

2006 South American Games The VIII South American Games (Spanish: ''Juegos Sudamericanos''; Portuguese: ''Jogos Sul-Americanos'') were a multi-sport event held from 9 to 19 November 2006 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, with some events taking place in Mar del Plata (canoeing ...

held in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

, Souza won the gold medal in the 50-metre butterfly , the silver medal in the 4×100-metre freestyle, and the bronze medal in the 50-metre freestyle. In January 2009, he retired from professional swimming.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Souza, Jader 1982 births Living people Brazilian male butterfly swimmers Brazilian male freestyle swimmers Olympic swimmers for Brazil Swimmers at the 2003 Pan American Games Swimmers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Pan American Games gold medalists for Brazil Pan American Games swimmers for Brazil Pan American Games gold medalists in swimming People from Macapá South American Games gold medalists for Brazil South American Games silver medalists for Brazil South American Games bronze medalists for Brazil South American Games medalists in swimming Competitors at the 2006 South American Games Medalists at the 2003 Pan American Games Sportspeople from Amapá 21st-century Brazilian sportsmen 20th-century Brazilian sportsmen