Haroldo de Melo Lara (9 June 1934 – 4 January 2015) was an

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

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 ...

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 participated in two

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. At the

1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics ( fi, Kesäolympialaiset 1952; sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1952), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad ( fi, XV olympiadin kisat; sv, Den XV olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952 ( sv, Helsin ...

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

, he swam the 100-metre and the 4×200-metre freestyle, not reaching the finals. In September 1956, two weekends in a row, in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, Haroldo Lara broke and repeated the Brazilian record of 100-metre freestyle, with a time of 57.8 seconds. That was an

Aram Boghossian Aram Boghossian (born 19 November 1929) is a former international freestyle swimmer from Brazil. He was born in Rio de Janeiro. As of 2004 he was still swimming in the Masters' category. Graduated in engineering, at the age of 60 he returned to ...

's record since 1948. At the

1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, whi ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, he swam the 100-metre freestyle, not reaching the finals. Haroldo Lara was the greatest swimmer sprinter of Brazil in the second half of the 50s, until 1957, when he dropped the swimming, moved to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

and became an opera singer. He broke 13 Brazilian records, and was a Brazilian and South American record holder from 1952 to 1956. He also carried the torch of the

2007 Pan American Games The 2007 Pan American Games, officially known as the XV Pan American Games, were a major continental multi-sport event that took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from July 13 to 29, 2007. A total of 5,633 athletes from 42 National Olympic Com ...

. Haroldo Lara died on 6 January 2015, due to complications from a

stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

References

External links

* * 1934 births 2015 deaths Brazilian male freestyle swimmers Olympic swimmers for Brazil Swimmers at the 1952 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1956 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Santos, São Paulo Swimmers from São Paulo (state) 21st-century Brazilian sportspeople 20th-century Brazilian sportspeople {{Brazil-swimming-bio-stub