Leonardo Gomes de Deus (born 18 January 1991 in

Campo Grande Campo Grande (, ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul in the Center-West region of the country. The city is nicknamed ''Cidade Morena'' ("Swarthy City" in Portuguese) because of the reddish-brown colour ...

) is a Brazilian swimmer. In the 200 metre butterfly, he was 6th place at the 2020 Tokyo Games; twice a finalist in World Championships; twice Pan-Pacific runner-up, and three-time Pan American Games champion. He is currently an athlete at Unisanta (Universidade Santa Cecília), sponsored by Mormaii, LD Sports, and CDE. He is also one of the representatives of the Aqua Centurions team in the International Swimming League.

International career

2010–12

In 2010, Deus joined the Brazilian national delegation and participated in the

2010 South American Games The IX South American Games (Spanish: ''Juegos Sudamericanos''; Portuguese: ''Jogos Sul-Americanos'') was a multi-sport event held between 19 and 30 March 2010 in Medellín, Colombia. The Games were organized by the South American Sports Organi ...

in Medellin. He won two gold medals, in the 200-metre backstroke and in the 200-metre butterfly, and a silver in the 4x200 freestyle relay. He competed in the

2010 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships The eleventh edition of the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, also known as the 2010 Mutual of Omaha Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, a long course (50 m) event, was held in Irvine, California, United States, from August 18–22. Me ...

Irvine Irvine may refer to: Places On Earth Antarctica *Irvine Glacier *Mount Irvine (Antarctica) Australia *Irvine Island *Mount Irvine, New South Wales Canada *Irvine, Alberta * Irvine Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom *Irvine, North Ayrshire, Scotla ...

, where he finished 9th in the 200-metre butterfly, and 11th in the 200-metre backstroke. He also participated in the

2010 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) The 10th FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) was held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates from 15–19 December 2010. This swimming-only championships took place in the Dubai Sports Complex; all events were swum in a 25-meter ( short-course) ...

, in

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

, where he finished 28th in the 100-metre backstroke and 15th in the 200-metre butterfly. He qualified for the semifinals of the 200-metre butterfly with the second fastest time (1:55.55) at the

2011 World Aquatics Championships The 14th FINA World Championships () were held on 16–31 July 2011 in Shanghai, China at the Shanghai Oriental Sports Center. The 2011 World Championships featured five aquatics disciplines: swimming, water polo, diving, open water, and synchro ...

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

, finishing 13th in the semifinal. He also qualified for semifinals of the 200-metre backstroke, finishing 15th. Deus was at the

2011 Pan American Games The 2011 Pan American Games, officially the XVI Pan American Games, was an international multi-sport event that was held from October 14–30, 2011, in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. Some events were held in the nearby cities of Ciudad Guzmán, ...

Guadalajara Guadalajara ( , ) is a metropolis in western Mexico and the capital of the list of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population of 1,385,629 people, making it the 7th largest city by population in Me ...

, where he was crowned champion of the 200-metre butterfly after a controversy involving alleged irregular sponsorship in the cap used in the final. Leonardo was disqualified after the game, but after protests from fans and the athletes themselves, the gold medal was returned to him. He also won silver in the 4×200-metre freestyle.

2012 Summer Olympics

At the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, he qualified for the semifinal of the Men's 200-metre backstroke, finishing in 16th place overall in the heats, and seventh in his semifinal, failing to qualify for the final. He finished 13th in the 200-metre backstroke. He also came in 21st place in the 200-metre butterfly.

2013–16

At the

2013 World Aquatics Championships The 15th FINA World Championships ( ca, Campionat Mundial de Natació de 2013, es, Campeonato Mundial de Natación de 2013) were held from 20 July to 4 August in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

, Deus finished in 7th place of his first classification to a World Championship final, the 200-metre butterfly final, with a time of 1:56.06. He participated in the 200-metre backstroke, finishing 12th. He also participated in the 4×100-metre medley, finishing 12th, along with

Marcelo Chierighini Marcelo Chierighini (born 15 January 1991) is a Brazilian competitive swimmer. In the 100 metre freestyle, he was an Olympic finalist at the Rio 2016 Games, and four times in a row a finalist at the World Championships in 2013, 2015, 2017 and 20 ...

, Felipe Lima and

Nicholas Santos Nicholas Araújo Dias dos Santos (born 14 February 1980) is a Brazilian competitive swimmer who specializes in freestyle and butterfly sprint events. He swims for Esporte Clube Pinheiros. He swam the 50-metre freestyle at the 2008 Summer Olymp ...

. At the

2014 South American Games The 2014 South American Games was a multi-sport event that took place in Santiago, Chile. It was the 10th edition of the ODESUR South American Games. Santiago hosted this event for the second time, the first being in 1986. Most of the events took ...

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

, he won two gold medals in the 200-metre butterfly and 200-metre backstroke, breaking the competition record in both races. At the 2014 Maria Lenk Trophy in

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 ...

, Deus broke the Brazilian record in 400-metre freestyle with a time of 3:50.90, improving

Armando Negreiros Armando Souza Negreiros (born 10 September 1985) is a freestyle swimmer from Brazil. In 2003, he reached the required rate to compete in the 800-metre freestyle at the 2003 Pan American Games in Santo Domingo, but the race was excluded from the ...

's time from 1997 by twenty-eight hundredths of a second. In May 2014, at the Brazilian Junior and Senior Swimming Championships, he broke the Brazilian record again with a time of 3:50.71. At the

2014 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships The 2014 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, also known as the 2014 Hancock Prospecting Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, a long course (50 m) event, was held in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, from 21 to 25 August 2014. Qualifying cr ...

Gold Coast, Queensland The Gold Coast is a coastal city in the state of Queensland, Australia, approximately south-southeast of the centre of the state capital Brisbane. With a population over 600,000, the Gold Coast is the sixth-largest city in Australia, the nati ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, he won a silver medal in the 200-metre butterfly with a time of 1:55.28. He also finished 6th in the 200-metre backstroke and 12th in the 400-metre freestyle heats. At the Brazilian Open, 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 ...

, he broke, for the third time, the Brazilian record in the 400-metre freestyle, with a time of 3:50.37. In April 2015, at the Maria Lenk Trophy, in

, he broke the South American record in the 400-metre freestyle with a time of 3:49.62, and swam lifetime best in the 200-metre butterfly, with a time of 1:55.19, earning the best time of the year in the event. At the

2015 Pan American Games Fifteen or 15 may refer to: *15 (number), the natural number following 14 and preceding 16 *one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015 Music *Fifteen (band), a punk rock band Albums * ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005 * ''15'' (Ani Lorak alb ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada, de Deus won three medals: a gold in the Men's 200 metre butterfly, with a time of 1:55.01, new Pan Am Games record and a lifetime best; and two bronze medals in the Men's 200 metre backstroke and in the Men's 400 metre freestyle. At the

2015 World Aquatics Championships The 16th FINA World Aquatics Championships, FINA World Championships (russian: Чемпионат мира по водным видам спорта 2015), also Aquatics 2015, were held in Kazan, Russia from 24 July to 9 August 2015. Russia host ...

Kazan Kazan ( ; rus, Казань, p=kɐˈzanʲ; tt-Cyrl, Казан, ''Qazan'', IPA: ɑzan is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan in Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka rivers, covering a ...

, de Deus didn't swim well in the Men's 200 metre butterfly. In the semifinal, he finished with a time of 1:56.02, far from his best mark, 1:55.01, achieved in Pan American Games a few days ago, and finished in 9th place, losing a spot in the final by 0.28 seconds. He also finished 13th in the Men's 200 metre backstroke.

2016 Summer Olympics

At 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 ...

, he broke the Brazilian record in the Men's 200-metre backstroke, with a time of 1:57.00, at heats. He finished 13th place overall in the semifinals. In the Men's 200 metre butterfly, he didn't swim well: although he had earlier times that could qualify him for the Olympic final, didn't come close to these times, and with the 1:56.77 mark, he finished 13th place in the semifinals.

2016–20

At the

2016 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) Sixteen or 16 may refer to: *16 (number), the natural number following 15 and preceding 17 *one of the years 16 BC, AD 16, 1916, 2016 Films * '' Pathinaaru'' or ''Sixteen'', a 2010 Tamil film * ''Sixteen'' (1943 film), a 1943 Argentine film d ...

Windsor, Ontario Windsor is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, on the south bank of the Detroit River directly across from Detroit, Michigan, United States. Geographically located within but administratively independent of Essex County, it is the souther ...

, Canada, he went to the Men's 200 metre butterfly final, finishing 5th. He also finished 11th in the Men's 200 metre backstroke At the

2017 World Aquatics Championships The 17th FINA World Championships ( hu, 2017-es úszó-világbajnokság) were held in Budapest, Hungary from 14 to 30 July 2017.

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

, he finished 12th in the Men's 200 metre backstroke and 14th in the Men's 200 metre butterfly. At the

2018 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships The 2018 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, a long course (50 m) event, was held in Tokyo, Japan, from 9 to 14 August 2018. Qualifying criteria Unlike the World Championships and Olympic Games, nations can enter as many people as they like ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, he won a silver medal in the 200-metre butterfly, with a time of 1:54.89, his personal record. At the

2018 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) The 14th FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) were held from 11 to 16 December 2018 in Hangzhou, China. These championships featured swimming events in a 25-meter ( short-course) pool. Medal table Results Men's events Women's events ...

Hangzhou Hangzhou ( or , ; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), also romanized as Hangchow, is the capital and most populous city of Zhejiang, China. It is located in the northwestern part of the province, sitting at the head of Hangzhou Bay, whi ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, the Brazilian team composed by

Luiz Altamir Melo Luiz Altamir Lopes Melo (born 9 May 1996 in Boa Vista) is a Brazilian swimmer. International career 2013–16 He was at the 2013 FINA World Junior Swimming Championships, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, where he finished 5th in the 200-metr ...

Fernando Scheffer Fernando Muhlenberg Scheffer (born 6 April 1998) is a Brazilian swimmer. In the 200 metre freestyle, he is the bronze medalist of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, the gold medalist at the 2019 Pan American Games and the South American record holder in ...

Leonardo Coelho Santos Leonardo Coelho Santos (born 10 April 1995 in Rio de Janeiro) is a Brazilian swimmer. International career At the 2018 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) in Hangzhou, China, Leonardo Santos, along with Luiz Altamir Melo, Fernando Schef ...

and

Breno Correia Breno Martins Correia (born 19 February 1999) is a Brazilian swimmer. Early life He started in the ACEB team of Bahia where, under the command of Márcio Cunha and Luiz Arapiraca, he won the first medals from Mirim to Petiz I. With his father ...

won the gold medal in the 4 × 200 freestyle relay, breaking the world record, with a time of 6:46.81. Leonardo de Deus won the gold medal by participating in Heats. He also finished 18th in the Men's 200 metre butterfly and 23rd in the Men's 100 metre butterfly He chose not to swim the Men's 200 metre backstroke. At the

2019 World Aquatics Championships The 2019 World Aquatics Championships were the 18th FINA World Aquatics Championships, held in Gwangju, South Korea from 12 to 28 July 2019. The city had previously hosted the 2015 Summer Universiade aquatics events in the same venues.

Gwangju Gwangju () is South Korea's sixth-largest metropolis. It is a designated metropolitan city under the direct control of the central government's Home Minister. The city was also the capital of South Jeolla Province until the provincial office ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

, he reached his second World Championships final in the Men's 200 metre butterfly, finishing 7th. He also finished 22nd in the Men's 200 metre backstroke. At the

2019 Pan American Games The 2019 Pan American Games ( es, Juegos Panamericanos de 2019, links=no), officially the XVIII Pan American Games and commonly known as the Lima 2019 Pan-Am Games or Lima 2019 ( qu, Limaq 2019), were a multi-sport event governed by the Panam Spo ...

held in

Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of t ...

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

, he became the first three-time champion in the Men's 200 metre butterfly in Pan's history. He won another bronze medal in the Men's 200 metre backstroke, repeating Toronto's results. He also won gold in the

Mixed 4 × 100 metre medley relay Mixed is the past tense of ''mix''. Mixed may refer to: * Mixed (United Kingdom ethnicity category), an ethnicity category that has been used by the United Kingdom's Office for National Statistics since the 1991 Census * ''Mixed'' (album), a c ...

and silver in the Men's 4 × 100 metre medley relay (both, by participating at heats).

2020 Summer Olympics

At the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

in Tokyo, Leonardo de Deus qualified for the semifinals of the Men's 200 metre butterfly in third place, with a time of 1:54.83. At 30 years of age, he broke his personal record in the race. In the semifinals he swam again below 1:55, qualifying in 2nd place for the final, this being Leonardo de Deus' first Olympic final, in his main event. In the final, he finished in 6th place.

2021–24

At the

2021 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) The 15th FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) were held from 16 to 21 December 2021 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. It was previously scheduled for 13 to 18 December but moved back three days on 24 February 2021. Originally scheduled to b ...

in Abu Dhabi, he finished 17th in the 200m butterfly with a time of 1:53.94. 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. In March 2022, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, FINA banned both the Russian an ...

held in Budapest, Hungary, he did not have a good run in the 200m butterfly, finishing in 14th place with a time of 1:56.18.com/File/00011700000104EE0102FFFFFFFFFF01.pdf 200m butterfly semifinal at the Budapest 2022 World Championship
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References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Deus, Leonardo 1991 births Living people Brazilian male butterfly swimmers Olympic swimmers for Brazil Swimmers at the 2011 Pan American Games Swimmers at the 2019 Pan American Games Swimmers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Brazilian male backstroke swimmers Brazilian male freestyle swimmers Medalists at the FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) Swimmers at the 2015 Pan American Games Pan American Games gold medalists for Brazil Pan American Games silver medalists for Brazil Pan American Games bronze medalists for Brazil Pan American Games medalists in swimming South American Games gold medalists for Brazil South American Games silver medalists for Brazil South American Games medalists in swimming Competitors at the 2010 South American Games Competitors at the 2014 South American Games Medalists at the 2011 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2015 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2019 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2023 Pan American Games Swimmers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Campo Grande 21st-century Brazilian people Swimmers at the 2023 Pan American Games