Paula Baracho Rosas Ribeiro (born July 31, 1981 in

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

) is a

freestyle Freestyle may refer to: Brands * Reebok Freestyle, a women's athletic shoe * Ford Freestyle, an SUV automobile * Coca-Cola Freestyle, a vending machine * Abbott FreeStyle, a blood glucose monitor by Abbott Laboritories Media * '' FreeStyle'', ...

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 ...

from

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 country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

Early years

At eight years old, she suffered from a serious allergy, and the family doctor advised her mother to take her daughter to a pool to "unlock the nose." She left the swimming school several times, and came to volleyball coaching. Thanks to a mother's attitude, who charged your decision, Paula opted to continue swimming. Soon, got a taste for sport and began to devote herself. In 2003, she left Recife and moved to São Paulo, where she went on to defend the

Esporte Clube Pinheiros The Esporte Clube Pinheiros, founded on 7 September 1899, by German immigrants, under the name Sport Club Germânia (Sport Club Germany), is a multi-sports and social club located in the Brazilian metropolis São Paulo. The full name of the cl ...

International career

At 18 years old, in

1999 Pan American Games The 1999 Pan American Games, officially the XIII Pan American Games () or the 13th Pan American Games and commonly known as Winnipeg 1999, were a major international multi-sport event that was held from July 23 to August 8, 1999, in Winnipeg, Ma ...

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

, won the bronze medal in the 4×200-metre freestyle team as a reserve. At the

2000 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) The 5th FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) were held at the Athens Olympic Sports Complex#Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre, Olympic Aquatic Centre in Athens, Athens, Greece from 16 to 19 March 2000. 15 world records were set. Men's events L ...

, 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 ...

, Baracho finished 9th in the 4×200-metre freestyle. At the

2002 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) The 6th FINA Short Course World Championships were held in Moscow, Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in th ...

, in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

, repeated the 9th place in the 4×200-metre freestyle in 2000. Participating in 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. ...

, in

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 ...

, she finished 12th in the 4×200-metre freestyle. She won the silver medal in the women's 4×200-metre freestyle relay 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 ...

Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic 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 ...

. breaking the South American record, with a time of 8:10.54, along with Monique Ferreira, Mariana Brochado and

Ana Muniz Ana Carolina de Castro Muniz (born March 14, 1984) is a freestyle swimmer from Brazil. At the 1999 Pan American Games in Winnipeg, she won the bronze medal in the 4×200-metre freestyle. She also finished 5th in the 400-metre freestyle, 6th in t ...

. She also finished 4th in the 4×100-metre medley, and 7th in the 100-metre backstroke. At 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

, she was in the 4×200-metre freestyle final, finishing in 7th place. At this final, broke the South American record with a time of 8:05.29, along with

Joanna Maranhão Joanna de Albuquerque Maranhão Bezerra de Melo, or Joanna Maranhão (born April 29, 1987 in Recife, Pernambuco) is a swimmer from Brazil, who competed at three consecutive Summer Olympics for her native country, starting in 2004. She was a fin ...

, Mariana Brochado and Monique Ferreira. She was in the

2004 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) The 7th FINA Short Course World Championships were held at the Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States from October 7 through October 11, 2004. This was the only edition of the Short Course World Championships that Michael Phel ...

, in

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

, where she finished 11th in the 200-metre freestyle and was in the 4×200-metre freestyle final, finishing in 6th place. At the

2005 World Aquatics Championships The 2005 World Aquatics Championships () or the XI FINA World Championships were held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada from July 16 to July 31, 2005. They took place in Parc Jean-Drapeau on Saint Helen's Island. Competition Medal standings :''o ...

, in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, she finished 13th in the 4×200-metre freestyle Participated in the

2006 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) The 8th FINA World Aquatics, formerly known as FINA (; ), is the international federation recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for administering international competitions in List of water sports, water sports. It is one o ...

, in

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

, where she finished 34th in the 200-metre freestyle and 9th in the 4×200-metre freestyle. In 2006, she went through a difficult period of his career. The athlete suffered several bouts of tonsillitis, which made her lose a lot of pace training. Without having expectations for a rapid recovery, Paula returned home in September 2006. In 2007, she was in third semester of Physical Education, at the Maurício de Nassau University. At the

2007 Pan American Games The 2007 Pan American Games, officially known as the XV Pan American Games () and commonly known as Rio 2007, were a major Americas, continental multi-sport event that took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from July 13 to 29, 2007. A total of ...

, in

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 ...

, Baracho won the bronze medal in the 4×200-metre freestyle. She was also ranked 8th in the 200-metre backstroke

After professional swimming

In 2008, she began to move away from pools. In 2010, became swimming coach.

References

Early years

International career

After professional swimming

See also

References