Daniel de Faria Dias (born 24 May 1988) is a Brazilian Paralympic swimmer. Having learnt to swim in 2004 after being inspired by

Clodoaldo Silva Clodoaldo Silva (born 1 February 1979) is a Brazilian Paralympic swimmer. He competed at the 2000 Summer Paralympics in Sydney, winning three silver medals and one bronze. He competed again at the 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens, where he s ...

at the

2004 Summer Paralympics ) , nations = 136 , athletes = 3,806 , events = 519 in 19 sports , opening = 17 September , closing = 28 September , opened_by = President Costis Stephanopoulos , cauldron = Georgios Toptsis , stadium = Olympic ...

, he entered his first international competition two years later winning five medals. He competed in a wide range of swimming events at the

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

and

2020 Paralympics The , branded as the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, was an international multi-sport parasports event held from 24 August to 5 September 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. They were the 16th Summer Paralympic Games as organized by the International Paralympic ...

and won 27 medals, including 14 gold medals.

Early life

Dias was born in 1988 in

Campinas Campinas (, ''Plains'' or ''Meadows'') is a Brazilian municipality in São Paulo State, part of the country's Southeast Region. According to the 2020 estimate, the city's population is 1,213,792, making it the fourteenth most populous Brazilian ...

, a city to the north of

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...

. He was born with malformed upper and lower limbs. Dias began swimming at the age of 16, after being inspired by

competing at the

, and learned four styles of swimming in two months. He studied mechatronical engineering and

physical education Physical education, often abbreviated to Phys Ed. or P.E., is a subject taught in schools around the world. It is usually taught during primary and secondary education, and encourages psychomotor learning by using a play and movement explorati ...

at the

Universidade São Francisco The Universidade São Francisco (USF; en, University of San Francisco) is a small university in Brazil, founded in 1976 by Franciscan priests. It has campuses in four cities in the State of São Paulo: Bragança Paulista, Itatiba, Campinas, and ...

Career

His first major event was the 2006

IPC Swimming World Championships The World Para Swimming Championships, known before 30 November 2016 as the IPC Swimming World Championships, are the world championships for swimming where athletes with a disability compete. They are organised by the International Paralympic C ...

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. He won the gold medal in three events, and a silver medal in a further two. At the age of 20, he competed in his first

Paralympic Games The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaire ...

at Beijing in

. The Games proved highly successful for Dias, who won more medals than any other athlete. He received a total of nine medals including four golds, four silvers, and one bronze across a range of different distances and disciplines. Dias won the

Laureus Award The Laureus World Sports Awards is an annual award ceremony honouring individuals and teams from the world of sports along with sporting achievements throughout the year. It was established in 1999 by Laureus Sport for Good Foundation foundin ...

in 2009 for Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability, being awarded it by British athlete

Sebastian Coe Sebastian Newbold Coe, Baron Coe, (born 29 September 1956), often referred to as Seb Coe, is a British politician and former track and field athlete. As a middle-distance runner, Coe won four Olympic medals, including 1500 metres gold medal ...

at a ceremony in London. Dias was an ambassador for his country's bid for the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

and

Paralympics The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaired ...

, and was present for the presentation of the Candidature File to the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

. Dias won the Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability for the second time in 2012 after winning 6 gold medals all in world record time at the 2012 Paralympic Games. , he holds IPC long course swimming world records in all strokes, at a range of distances – 50, 100 and 200 metre freestyle (S5), 50 and 100 metres backstroke (S5), 50 and 100 metres butterfly (S5), 50 and 100 metres breaststroke (SB4) and 200 metre individual medley (SM5). In 2016 he was compared to

Michael Phelps Michael Fred Phelps II (born June 30, 1985) is an American former competitive swimmer. He is the most successful and most decorated Olympian of all time with a total of 28 medals. Phelps also holds the all-time records for Olympic gold me ...

, a retired non-Paralympic American competitive swimmer. Despite such an honorable comparison Daniel Dias said that he is Daniel Dias.

References

External links