Ricardo Prado (born 3 January 1965 in Andradina, São Paulo, Brazil) is an Olympic and former World Record holding medley

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 ...

. He was one of the greatest swimmers in the history of Brazil and the best Brazilian swimmer in the 1980s.

International career

At just 14 years old, he participated at the

1979 Pan American Games The 1979 Pan American Games, officially the VIII Pan American Games () and commonly known as San Juan 1979, were a multi-sport event governed by the Panam Sports Organization (PASO), and were held in San Juan, Puerto Rico, from July 1 to Jul ...

, in

San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John (disambiguation), Saint John, most commonly refers to: * San Juan, Puerto Rico * San Juan, Argentina * San Juan, Metro Manila, a highly urbanized city in the Philippines San Juan may also refer to: Places Arge ...

, where he finished seventh in the 400-metre individual medley, and eighth in the 200-metre individual medley. Prado participated in the

1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad () and officially branded as Moscow 1980 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1980 in Moscow, Soviet Union, in present-day Russ ...

, 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 ...

. He swam the 400-metre individual medley and the 100-metre backstroke, not reaching the final. On 8 August 1982, at the

1982 World Aquatics Championships The 4th FINA World Aquatics Championships took place from July 29-August 8, 1982, in Guayaquil, Ecuador. They featured 848 athletes, competing in four Aquatics disciplines: *Diving - 4 events (2 male, 2 female); *Swimming - 29 events (15 male, 1 ...

Guayaquil Guayaquil (), officially Santiago de Guayaquil, is the largest city in Ecuador and also the nation's economic capital and main port. The city is the capital (political), capital of Guayas Province and the seat of Guayaquil Canton. The city is ...

, Prado won a gold medal in the 400-metre individual medley, with a time of 4:19.78, establishing a new

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organizatio ...

that stood until 23 May 1984. Prado was also in four other finals: placing fourth in the 200-metre butterfly (beating the South American record), and eighth in the 200-metre individual medley, the 200-metre backstroke, and the 4×100-metre medley. Prado had chances to earn a good result also in the 200-metre individual medley, but the conditions were adverse in Ecuador. "The hotel we stayed at was not well attended. It was directly across

rom Rom, or ROM may refer to: Biomechanics and medicine * Risk of mortality, a medical classification to estimate the likelihood of death for a patient * Rupture of membranes, a term used during pregnancy to describe a rupture of the amniotic sac * ...

the Guayaquil bus station. I managed to reach the final of the 200-metre individual medley, but I was weak because food there was terrible, and finished the race in eighth place." Prado landed at home with gold on his neck but a big

mycosis Fungal infection, also known as mycosis, is a disease caused by fungi. Different types are traditionally divided according to the part of the body affected: superficial, subcutaneous, and systemic. Superficial fungal infections include common ...

in his belly. Djan Madruga had worse luck: he contracted

typhoid fever Typhoid fever, also known simply as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella enterica'' serotype Typhi bacteria, also called ''Salmonella'' Typhi. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often th ...

. At the

1983 Summer Universiade The 1983 Summer Universiade, also known as the 1983 World University Games or XII Summer Universiade, took place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada between July 1 and 12, 1983. Over 2400 athletes from 73 countries participated. It was the first time Ca ...

, in

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

, Prado won two bronze medals: in the 200-metre and 400-metre individual medley races. He also finished fourth in the 200-metre backstroke, and sixth in the 200-metre butterfly. Prado competed at the 1983 Pan American Games, in

Caracas Caracas ( , ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas (CCS), is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern p ...

, where he won two gold medals in the 200-metre and 400-metre individual medley (beating the Pan Am Games record). He also won two silver medals: in the 200-metre backstroke, and in the 200-metre butterfly (both beating the South American record). Prado won the silver medal in the men's 400-metre individual medley at the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, California. He also finished fourth in the 200-metre backstroke, 12th in the 4×100-metre medley, and 17th in the 200-metre individual medley and the 200-metre butterfly. Prado participated in the 1985 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, the first year of the competition, where he won the gold medal in the 400-metre individual medley, and the bronze medal in the 200-metre butterfly. He also finished fourth in the 200-metre backstroke. At the 1985 Summer Universiade, in

Kobe Kobe ( ; , ), officially , is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. With a population of around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's List of Japanese cities by population, seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Port of Toky ...

, Prado won the gold medal in the 400-metre individual medley and the bronze medal in the 200-metre individual medley. He also finished fourth in the 200-metre backstroke and in the 200-metre butterfly. At the 1986 World Aquatics Championships in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

, Prado competed in the 200-metre individual medley final, finishing seventh. Although feeling the exhaustion of years of competition, Prado still swam at the

1987 Pan American Games The 1987 Pan American Games, officially known as the X Pan American Games, was a major international multi-sport event held in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, on August 7–23, 1987. Over 4,300 athletes from 38 countries in the Americas ...

, 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 he won a silver medal in the 200-metre backstroke, and two bronze medals in the 200-metre individual medley and the 4×100-metre medley. Prado began to decline after losing the gold in Los Angeles 1984 to

Alex Baumann Alexander Baumann, (born April 21, 1964) is a Canadian sports administrator and former competitive swimmer who won two gold medals and set two world records at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. In 2007, he was regarded by the CBC, the ...

. In 1987, Prado felt tired with his star status. During that year, he still swam well, earning medals in the Pan American Games, and spoke to journalists about training for the 1988 Olympics in Seoul. In early 1988, Prado's positive diagnosis for hepatitis marked the inevitable. Prado said goodbye to competitive swimming after racing for 23 years.

Marks and records

In addition to beating the world record of the 400-metre individual medley, Prado held five South American individual records at the same time, at the 1983 Pan American Games in Caracas. At this competition, he broke Djan Madruga South American record in the 200-metre backstroke, with a time of 2:02.85. This record would not be broken until the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and officially branded as Seoul 1988 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. 159 nations were represe ...

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

Rogério Romero Rogério Aoki Romero (born 22 November 1969 in Londrina, Paraná) is a former backstroke swimmer from Brazil, who competed at five consecutive Summer Olympics for his native country, starting in 1988. A resident of Belo Horizonte, he won the go ...

, with a time of 2:02.26 in the heats. In Caracas, he also broke the South American record for the 200-metre butterfly, with a time of 1:59.00. This record was not beaten until 2003, 20 years later, by Kaio Almeida. Prado broke the South American record in the 400-metre individual medley at the

, with a time of 4:18.45. This record was only beaten 20 years later, in 2004 by

Thiago Pereira Thiago Machado Vilela Pereira (born 26 January 1986) is a retired Brazilian international competition swimming (sport), swimmer. One of the greatest swimmers in the history of Brazil, Pereira won the silver medal in the 400-meter medley swimmi ...

. In the 200-metre individual medley, Prado broke the South American record in

Clovis, California Clovis is a city in Fresno County, California, United States. It was established in 1890 as a freight stop for the San Joaquin Valley Railroad by a group of Fresno businessmen and Michigan railroad speculator Marcus Pollasky. The railroad bou ...

, in 1983, with a time of 2:04.10. This record lasted 20 years and was beaten in 2003 by Diogo Yabe.

After professional swimming

In 2003, at 38 years old, Prado suffered a heart attack, and later had an angioplasty procedure at a hospital in

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

, Texas. Prado served as sports manager of the Organizing Committee of 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. As of 2013, he works as sporting director of the

Maria Lenk Aquatic Center The Maria Lenk Aquatics Centre () is an aquatics centre that is part of the City of Sports Complex in the Barra da Tijuca district of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is part of the investments made by the city to host the swimming, synchronized swimm ...

in Rio de Janeiro. Prado graduated with a Masters in

Economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

and in

Physical education Physical education is an academic subject taught in schools worldwide, encompassing Primary education, primary, Secondary education, secondary, and sometimes tertiary education. It is often referred to as Phys. Ed. or PE, and in the United Stat ...

from

Southern Methodist University Southern Methodist University (SMU) is a Private university, private research university in Dallas, Texas, United States, with a satellite campus in Taos County, New Mexico. SMU was founded on April 17, 1911, by the Methodist Episcopal Church, ...

in Dallas, Texas. In addition to his work at the Maria Lenk Aquatic Center, he currently works as a swimming coach team in Hebraica Club/Projeto Futuro. He is also a swimming commentator for the pay-TV channel

ESPN Brasil ESPN is the Brazilian division of ESPN Inc. Launched in March 1989 as Canal+, it was the first country-specific version of ESPN outside the United States, launched in June 1995. The channel has covered major sporting events, like the 1996 Summer ...

References

External links

International career

Marks and records

After professional swimming

See also

References

External links