Stephan Alexander De Freitas Steverink (born 27 February 2004) is a Brazilian competitive

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 won the gold medal in the 400-metre freestyle and the silver medal in the 400-metre individual medley at the 2022 World Junior Championships. At the

2021 Junior Pan American Games The 2021 Junior Pan American Games (Spanish: ''Juegos Panamericanos Junior 2021'') were the first edition of the Junior Pan American Games, an international multi-sports event for athletes aged 17 to 22 in the Americas, organized by Panam Spor ...

, he won a gold medal in the 4×200-metre freestyle relay, silver medals in the 800-metre freestyle, 400-metre individual medley and 4×100-metre medley relay, as well as a bronze medal in the 1500-metre freestyle.

Background

Steverink was born 27 February 2004 to a

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 ...

ian mother and a

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

father and holds citizenship to Brazil and the Netherlands."Stephan Steverink"
''

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 of several interna ...

''. Retrieved 31 August 2022.Lord, Craig (4 February 2020)
"Stephan Steverink: The Boy From Brazil With A Dutch Double Decision & A Paris 2024 Gold"
''

Swimming World } ''Swimming World'' is a US-based quarterly swimming magazine that was first published in a magazine format as ''Junior Swimmer'' in January 1960. It concurrently runs online websites ''Swimming World Magazine'' and ''Swimming World News'' (kn ...

''. Retrieved 31 August 2022. He trains and competes for

CR Flamengo Clube de Regatas do Flamengo (; ), more commonly referred to as simply Flamengo, is a Brazilian multi sports club based in Rio de Janeiro, in the neighborhood of Gávea. It was founded and named after the Flamengo, Rio de Janeiro, Flamengo n ...

, continuing his contract with the sports club through the

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

and changing his training base to

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 ...

in 2023.Petry, Helena (8 January 2023)
"Stephan Steverink renova contrato com o Flamengo ENS até Paris-2024"
(in Portuguese). ''

''. Retrieved 20 February 2023.

Career

2019–2021

In 2019, Steverink won medals at national age group competitions in both

and

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

as part of figuring out which country to represent in international competitions.Keith, Braden (5 December 2019)
"15-Year-Old Stephan Steverink Adds 4:21 In 400 IM To Big Results In Brazil"
''

SwimSwam ''SwimSwam'' is a swimming news organization covering competitive swimming along with diving, water polo and synchronized swimming. SwimSwam launched as a website in March 2012. History The news organization was founded by Braden Keith, Garrett ...

''. Retrieved 31 August 2022. Two years later, as part of

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...

at the

held in

Cali Santiago de Cali (), or Cali, is the capital of the Valle del Cauca department, and the most populous city in southwest Colombia, with 2,280,522 residents estimate by National Administrative Department of Statistics, DANE in 2023. The city span ...

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

, he won the gold medal in the 4×200-metre freestyle relay, the silver medal in the 800-metre freestyle with a 8:02.64, the silver medal in the 400-metre individual medley with a 4:24.35, a silver medal in the 4×100-metre medley relay, the bronze medal in the 1500-metre freestyle with a 15:34.41, and placed eighth in the b-final of the 200-metre individual medley with a 2:25.26."Cali Valle 2021: Stephan Alexander De Freitas Steverink"
(in Spanish). ''

Panam Sports Panam Sports, officially the Pan American Sports Organization (), is an international organization which represents the current 41 National Olympic Committees of the American continents. It is affiliated with the International Olympic Committee ...

''. Retrieved 31 August 2022.

2022

For the

2022 South American Youth Games The 2022 South American Youth Games (Spanish:''Juegos Suramericanos de la Juventud''), officially the III South American Youth Games, was an international multi-sport event held in Rosario, Argentina, from April 28 to May 8. It was the first tim ...

, held in

Rosario Rosario () is the largest city in the central provinces of Argentina, Argentine province of Santa Fe Province, Santa Fe. The city, located northwest of Buenos Aires on the west bank of the Paraná River, is the third-most populous city in the ...

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

in April and May, Steverink won a total of four golds medals, one each in the 400-metre freestyle, 1500-metre freestyle, 200-metre individual medley, and the 4×100-metre freestyle relay, as well as a silver medal in the 200-metre breaststroke."Rosario 2022: De Freitas Steverink Stephan Alexander"
''

ODESUR The Organización Deportiva Suramericana (ODESUR) is a multi-sports organisation. It organises the South American Games. Member nations There are 15 affiliated National Olympic Committee A National Olympic Committee (NOC) is a national co ...

''. Retrieved 11 September 2022."Stephan Steverink projeta nadar até três provas nos Jogos de Paris"
(in Portuguese). ''olimpiadatododia.com.br''. 1 September 2022. Retrieved 2 September 2022. 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 at

Danube Arena The Danube Arena (in Hungarian: ''Duna Aréna'', unofficially ''Dagály Budapest Aquatics Complex'') is an aquatics complex located in Budapest, Hungary. It was designed by Marcell Ferenc and built between 2015 and 2017. Design and construction ...

in June and July in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

, Steverink placed sixteenth in the 400-metre individual medley with a time of 4:19.09.

(18 June 2022)
"19th FINA World Championships Budapest (HUN): Men's 400m Individual Medley Heats Results Summary"
''

Omega Timing Omega SA is a Swiss luxury watchmaker based in Biel/Bienne, Switzerland. Founded by Louis Brandt in La Chaux-de-Fonds in 1848, the company formerly operated as ''Louis Brandt et Fils'' until incorporating the name ''Omega'' in 1903, becoming ' ...

''. Retrieved 31 August 2022.

2022 World Junior Championships

For the preliminaries of the 400-metre freestyle on day one of the

2022 FINA World Junior Swimming Championships The 8th FINA World Junior Swimming Championships was held from 30 August to 4 September 2022 at the Videna Aquatic Center in Lima, Peru.

, 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 ...

, Steverink ranked first with a time of 3:50.24 and qualified for the final.

(30 August 2022)
"8th FINA World Junior Swimming Championships Lima (PER): Men's 400m Freestyle Heats Results Summary"
''

''. Retrieved 31 August 2022. In the evening final, he won the gold medal with a personal best time of 3:48.27, finishing less than two-tenths of a second ahead of silver medalist Vlad Stancu of

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

(30 August 2022)
"8th FINA World Junior Swimming Championships Lima (PER): Men's 400m Freestyle Final Results"
''

''. Retrieved 31 August 2022.Chaves, Lincoln (30 August 2022)
"Revelação brasileira conquista ouro no Mundial Júnior de natação"
(in Portuguese). ''

Agência Brasil Agência Brasil (ABr.) is a nationwide Public service, public news agency, run by the Federal government of Brazil, Brazilian government. The agency was founded in 1990 and is part of public media corporation Empresa Brasil de Comunicação (EBC ...

''. Retrieved 31 August 2022.de Barros, Adielson (30 August 2022)
"Stephan Steverink é ouro dos 400m livre do Mundial Júnior"
(in Portuguese). ''olimpiadatododia.com.br''. Retrieved 31 August 2022."Stephan Steverink briga até o fim e é campeão Mundial Jr nos 400m livre"
(in Portuguese). '' Brazilian Confederation of Aquatic Sports''. 30 August 2022. Retrieved 31 August 2022."Stephan Steverink é campeão sundial júnior de natação"
(in Portuguese). ''

Globo Esporte TV Globo (stylized as tvglobo; , ), formerly known as Rede Globo de Televisão (; shortened to Rede Globo) or simply known as Globo, is a Brazilian free-to-air television network, launched by media proprietor Roberto Marinho on 26 April 1965. ...

''. 30 August 2022. Retrieved 31 August 2022. With his win, he became the first male Brazilian swimmer to win a medal in the 400-metre freestyle at a

FINA World Junior Swimming Championships The World Aquatics Junior Swimming Championships (commonly referred to as 'Junior World Championships' or 'Junior Worlds') is an international swimming championship event organized biennially by World Aquatics for swimmers aged 14–18 years as of ...

and he won the first medal for Brazil at the 2022 Championships."Histórico! Stephan Steverink é ouro no Mundial Júnior de natação"
(in Portuguese). ''

Lance! ''Lance!'' is a daily sports newspaper in Brazil, and its first edition was published in 1997. Its headquarters are located in Rio de Janeiro, and they print regional versions for some of the other Brazilian states. History Its tabloid format a ...

''. 31 August 2022. Retrieved 31 August 2022. On the third day of competition, he placed sixth in the 800-metre freestyle with a time of 8:01.21.

(1 September 2022)
"8th FINA World Junior Swimming Championships Lima (PER): Men's 800m Freestyle Results Summary"
''

''. Retrieved 1 September 2022.Oliviera, Natália (1 September 2022)
"Brasil chega perto do pódio no Mundial Júnior de Natação"
(in Portuguese). ''surtoolimpico.com.br''. Retrieved 1 September 2022. The next day, he led-off the 4×200-metre freestyle relay in the final with a personal best time of 1:49.02, contributing to a fourth-place finish in 7:20.13, which was just 0.20 seconds slower than the bronze medal-winning team from

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

(2 September 2022)
"8th FINA World Junior Swimming Championships Lima (PER): Men's 4x200m Freestyle Final Results"
''

''. Retrieved 2 September 2022. On the fifth morning, Steverink ranked second in the preliminary heats of the 400-metre individual medley, behind Riku Yamaguchi of

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 ...

, with a time of 4:22.29.

(3 September 2022)
"8th FINA World Junior Swimming Championships Lima (PER): Men's 400m Individual Medley Heats Results Summary"
''

''. Retrieved 3 September 2022. In the evening final, he lowered his time to a 4:17.68 and won the silver medal.

(3 September 2022)
"8th FINA World Junior Swimming Championships Lima (PER): Men's 400m Individual Medley Final Results"
''

''. Retrieved 3 September 2022.Silva, Regys (3 September 2022)
"Stephan Steverink é prata e Revezamento 4x100m Livres feminino é bronze no Mundial Junior de Natação"
(in Portuguese). ''surtoolimpico.com.br''. Retrieved 3 September 2022. The following, and final, day, he placed fourth in the 1500-metre freestyle with a time of 15:23.83, which was less than six seconds slower than bronze medalist Vlad Stancu.

(4 September 2022)
"8th FINA World Junior Swimming Championships Lima (PER): Men's 1500m Freestyle Results Summary"
''

''. Retrieved 4 September 2022.

2022 U.S. Open Championships

Competing representing Brazil at the 2022 U.S. Open Swimming Championships, starting on 30 November in

Greensboro Greensboro (; ) is a city in Guilford County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 census, its population was 299,035; it was estimated to be 307,381 in 2024. It is the third-most populous city in North Carolina, af ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, Steverink won the bronze medal in the 800-metre freestyle with a time of 8:01.80, sharing the podium with fellow Brazilian and gold medalist Guilherme Costa and Venezuelan and silver medalist Alfonso Mestre.

USA Swimming USA Swimming is the national governing body for competitive swimming in the United States. It is charged with selecting the United States Olympic Swimming team and any other teams that officially represent the United States, as well as the overa ...

(30 November 2022)
"2022 Toyota U.S. Open Championships: Men's 800m Freestyle Results Summary"
''

''. Retrieved 30 November 2022. The second day, he placed fifth in the 400-metre freestyle with a time of 3:51.60.

(1 December 2022)
"2022 Toyota U.S. Open Championships: Men's 400m Freestyle Final Results"
''

''. Retrieved 1 December 2022. On the third evening, he finished in a time of 4:21.53 in the final of the 400-metre individual medley to place seventh.

(2 December 2022)
"2022 Toyota U.S. Open Championships: Men's 400m Individual Medley Final Results"
''

''. Retrieved 2 December 2022.

2023

At the 2023 Brazil National Swimming Championships in

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 ...

, Steverink started off with a silver medal on day one (30 May) in the 400-metre freestyle, finishing second in a time of 3:50.79. Time Brasil (30 May 2023)
"Troféu Brasil de Natação 2023 - Dia 1 - Finais"
(in Portuguese; time stamp, 42:52 to 55:27). ''

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

''. Retrieved 31 May 2023. He followed up with a silver medal in the 1500-metre freestyle the following day with a time of 15:20.20. Time Brasil (31 May 2023)
"Troféu Brasil de Natação 2023 - Dia 2 - Finais"
(in Portuguese; time stamp, 1:02:50 to 1:27:04). ''

''. Retrieved 31 May 2023. On day four, he finished in a

2023 World Aquatics Championships The 2023 World Aquatics Championships, the 20th edition of the World Aquatics Championships, were held in Fukuoka, Japan, from 14 to 30 July 2023. Originally scheduled to be held in 2021 as the 19th championships, the championships were postpo ...

qualifying time of 4:17.26 in the final of the 400-metre individual medley, winning the gold medal. Time Brasil (2 June 2023)
"Troféu Brasil de Natação 2023 - Dia 4 - Finais"
(in Portuguese; time stamp, 1:42:27 to 1:57:14). ''

''. Retrieved 2 June 2023. The fifth and final day, he won the bronze medal in the 800-metre freestyle with a final mark of 8:03.00. Time Brasil (3 June 2023)
"Troféu Brasil de Natação 2023 - Dia 5 - Finais"
(in Portuguese; time stamp, 1:44:31 to 2:01:21). ''

''. Retrieved 3 June 2023.

International championships

: Steverink swam only in the preliminary heats.

Personal best times

Long course metres (50 m pool)

Legend: r – relay 1st leg

Awards and honours

Brazilian Olympic Committee The Brazilian Olympic Committee (; COB) is the highest authority in Sports in Brazil, Brazilian sport and the governing body of Brazilian Olympic Games, Olympic sport. It was officially founded on 8 June 1914, but World War I caused its official ...

, Year-end Junior Athletes Retrospective, highlight: 2022"Retrospectiva 2022: natação se destaca e comanda medalhas do Brasil em Mundiais Juniors no ano"
(in Portuguese). ''

''. 16 December 2022. Retrieved 20 February 2023. * ''Olimpíada Todo Dia'', Youth Athletes Retrospective, highlight: 2022Nagime, Mateus (24 December 2022)
"Retrospectiva Olímpica: atletas de base do Time Brasil em 2022"
(in Portuguese). ''olimpiadatododia.com.br''. Retrieved 18 February 2023.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Steverink, Stephen 2004 births Living people Swimmers from Rio de Janeiro (city) Brazilian people of Dutch descent Brazilian male freestyle swimmers Brazilian male medley swimmers Swimmers at the 2023 Pan American Games 21st-century Brazilian sportsmen