Phelipe Andrews Melo Rodrigues (born 10 August 1990) is a

paralympic 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 ...

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 ...

competing mainly in category S10 events. He was born with a

club foot Clubfoot is a birth defect where one or both feet are rotated inward and downward. Congenital clubfoot is the most common congenital malformation of the foot with an incidence of 1 per 1000 births. In approximately 50% of cases, clubfoot aff ...

and had two surgeries when he was just four weeks old. After his second surgery when his foot was in the right position he had an infection which made his leg blow the knee and specially his tendon to stop growing, disabling his right foot movements. He started swimming when he was 8 months as physiotherapy. He also tried many different sports but his passion since childhood was swimming.

First competitions

His first competitions was for "Academia Movimento" located in Olinda-PE, he competed for 4 years for his team, in 2007 he moved to João Pessoa - PB and joined the state team C.I.E.F. where he archived regional gold medals and twice 3rd place at nationals competitions with able bodied swimmers (non-disabled).

Paralympic sports

Phelipe was part of the Brazilian team that travelled to Beijing for the

2008 Summer Paralympics The 2008 Summer Paralympic Games (), the 13th Summer Paralympic Games, took place in Beijing, China from September 6 to 17, 2008. As with the 2008 Summer Olympics, equestrian events were held in Hong Kong and sailing events in Qingdao. It was ...

. There he competed in the 100-metre and 50-metre freestyle events where he won silver behind compatriot Andre Brasil. He also swam 400-metre freestyle where he failed to make the final, and competed as part of the Brazilian 4 × 100 m freestyle and 4 × 100 m medley teams but even with the gold and silver medal-winning S10 swimmers Brazil could not manage to win a medal finishing fourth and eighth respectively. On his next Paralympic Game at London 2012 he archived another silver medal in the 100-metre freestyle, fourth place in the 50-metre freestyle event which gave him a medal in Beijing 2008 and fifth in the 100-metre butterfly. He also participated in the Para-Panamerican Games in Guadalajara - Mexico in 2011 where he took 5 medals, 3 silver medals (50m,100m, 400m freestyle) and 2 gold medals (4 × 100 m freestyle and 4 × 100 m medley). Following the 2012 Paralympics Rodrigues accepted an invitation to train in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, where he stayed until the end of 2014 before returning to Brazil. At the 2016 Rio Paralympics Rodrigues won two silver and two bronze medals.

Progression

Personal life

He is in a relationship with fellow Paralympian Liz Johnson.

References

External links