Alexandre Massura Neto (born 19 June 1975) is a retired male

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

and

backstroke Backstroke or back crawl is one of the four Swimming (sport), swimming styles used in competitive events regulated by FINA, and the only one of these styles swum on the back. This swimming style has the advantage of easy breathing, but the disa ...

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 ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, who competed at two consecutive

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

for his native country, starting in 1996. Actually a resident of

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

. At the 1995 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) held in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

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

Gustavo Borges Gustavo França Borges (born December 2, 1972) is a Brazilian former competitive swimmer. He swam for Brazil in the Summer Olympic Games in: 1992, 1996, 2000 and 2004. Borges has won the second-most Olympic medals of any Brazilian, with fouron ...

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 ...

and André Cordeiro, with a time of 3m12s42. He also swam the 200-metre backstroke. At the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, Massura came close to winning a medal, reaching the 4×100-metre freestyle final, and staying in 4th place. The end of 1998 was marked by the third consecutive

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 organization ...

broke by Brazilian relay in the 4×100-metre freestyle, on short course. On 20 December, shortly after the end of Jose Finkel Trophy, the quartet formed by

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 T ...

, Alexandre Massura and

, in order, fell the pool at

Club de Regatas Vasco da Gama Club de Regatas Vasco da Gama (), commonly referred as Vasco da Gama or simply Vasco, is a professional sports club based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Originally a rowing club, Vasco is mostly known for its football team, who it currently compet ...

and they got the 3:10.45 time, that would only be broken in the year 2000 by the team of

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

. At the

1999 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) The 4th FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) was an international swimming meet organized by FINA, held 1–4 April 1999 at the Hong Kong Coliseum in Hong Kong. It features 516 swimmers from 61 nations, swimming in 40 short course In swimmin ...

, in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

, Massura reached the final of the 100-metre backstroke, finishing in 5th place. Massura was in the

1999 Pan American Games The 1999 Pan American Games, officially the XIII Pan American Games or the 13th Pan American Games, was a major international multi-sport event that was held from July 23 to August 8, 1999, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada and surrounding towns and ...

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

. In the 4×100-metre medley, along with

and

Marcelo Tomazini Marcelo Augusto Tomazini (born December 18, 1978 in São Paulo) is a male breaststroke swimmer from Brazil. At the 1999 Pan American Games in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, Tomazini teamed with Alexandre Massura, Fernando Scherer, and Gustavo Borge ...

, Brazil won the medley relay for the first time in the Pan's history, with a time of 3:40.27, breaking Pan American and South American records, and secure a place in the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

. Massura also won the silver medal in the 100-metre backstroke, beating the South American record with a time of 55.17 seconds. The 4×100-metre medley record just fell in 2006, and the 100-metre backstroke record only dropped with

Thiago Pereira Thiago Machado Vilela Pereira (born 26 January 1986) is a retired Brazilian international competition swimmer. One of the greatest swimmers in the history of Brazil, Pereira won the silver medal in the 400-meter individual medley at the 2012 ...

's bronze at 2007 Pan, in Rio de Janeiro. On 16 December 1999, Massura broke the South American record in the 50-metre backstroke Olympic pool, with a time of 26.00 seconds. The record was only broken in 2007. At the

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, Massura ranked 13th in the 100-metre backstroke, and 12th in the 4×100-metre medley. On 12 November 2000, Massura broke the South American record in the short-course 50-metre backstroke: 24.73 seconds. The record stood until 2007. In 2000, also broke the South American record in the 100-metre backstroke short course, with a time of 52.24 seconds, time that lasted until 2008. At the

2001 World Aquatics Championships right The 2001 World Aquatics Championships or the 9th FINA World Swimming Championships were held in Fukuoka, Japan between 16 July and 29 July 2001. The opening and closing ceremonies, as well as the swimming and synchronised swimming events, ...

Fukuoka is the sixth-largest city in Japan, the second-largest port city after Yokohama, and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancie ...

, he reached the semifinals of the 50-metre and 100-metre backstroke. Massura retired from professional swimming in 2004. Later, he worked in the Department of Sports of the Government of Minas Gerais.

References

UOL Profile

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Massura, Alexandre 1975 births Living people Brazilian male backstroke swimmers Swimmers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1999 Pan American Games Swimmers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic swimmers of Brazil People from São Bernardo do Campo Brazilian male freestyle swimmers Medalists at the FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) Pan American Games gold medalists for Brazil Pan American Games silver medalists for Brazil Pan American Games medalists in swimming Medalists at the 1999 Pan American Games Sportspeople from São Paulo (state)

See also

References

External links