Rafael Motta Bacêllo Mósca (born 13 May 1982, 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 ...

) is a

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 ...

. Trying to prevent some respiratory problem, Mósca began to practice swimming. His mother enrolled him in a swim school at two years of age. At 11, a disease in kidney removed him from swimming pools, for a year and a half. Recovered, returned to swim at

Flamengo Clube de Regatas do Flamengo (; English: ''Flamengo Rowing Club''), more commonly referred to as simply Flamengo, is a Brazilian sports club based in Rio de Janeiro, in the neighborhood of Gávea, best known for their professional football t ...

. The first good results of Rafael appeared, and he began to consider the possibility of a career as a professional athlete. At 19 years old, he broke the 10-year hegemony of

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 ...

in the 200-metre freestyle, at the 2002 Jose Finkel Trophy (Brazilian Short Course Championship). Gustavo won the gold medal since 1992. Mósca swam at the

2002 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships The ninth edition of the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, a long course (50 m) event, was held in 2002 in Yokohama International Swimming Pool in Yokohama, Japan, from August 24–29. One world record A world record is usually th ...

, where he finished 4th in the 4×100-metre freestyle, 5th in the 4×200-metre freestyle, and 14th in the 200-metre freestyle. At the

2003 World Aquatics Championships The 10th FINA World Aquatics Championships were held July 12–27, 2003 in Barcelona, Spain. The championships featured competition in all 5 of FINA's disciplines: Swimming, Diving, Synchronised swimming, Water Polo, and Open Water Swimming. C ...

, in

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 ...

, Mósca finished 33rd in the 200-metre freestyle and 9th in the 4×200-metre freestyle. He won the silver medal with the men's relay team in the 4×200-metre freestyle at the

2003 Pan American Games The 2003 Pan American Games were held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, from August 1 to 17, 2003. The successful bid for the games was made in the mid-1990s, when Dominican Republic had one of the highest growth rates in Latin America. Al ...

Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic , total_type = Total , population_density_km2 = auto , timezone = AST (UTC −4) , area_code_type = Area codes , area_code = 809, 829, 849 , postal_code_type = Postal codes , postal_code = 10100–10699 ( Distrito Nacional) , webs ...

. His winning teammates were

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 ...

, and

Rodrigo Castro Rodrigo Octávio Coelho da Rocha e Castro (born 21 December 1978 in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais) is a freestyle swimmer from Brazil, who competed for his native country at three consecutive Summer Olympics, starting in 2000 (Sydney). Internati ...

. He also finished 7th in the 200-metre freestyle. Mósca also represented his native country at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

Athens, Greece Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

. In which he achieved 9th place also with the men's relay team in the 4×200-metre freestyle, now with

Bruno Bonfim Bruno Bonfim (born 18 May 1979 in Anápolis) is a middle-distance freestyle swimmer from Brazil, who competed for his native country at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. A year earlier, he won the bronze medal at the Pan American ...

and

. At this race, he broke the South American record, with a time of 7:22.70. At the

2004 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) The 7th FINA Short Course World Championships were held at the Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States from October 7 through October 11, 2004. Results Freestyle Backstroke Breaststroke Butterfly Medley Medal table ...

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

, Mósca won the bronze medal in the 4×200-metre freestyle, along 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 ...

and

Lucas Salatta Lucas Vinícius Yokoo Salatta (born 27 April 1987 in São Paulo) is a Brazilian backstroke swimmer. At his 1998 state championship, Salatta set two age records in the 100m freestyle (1:04.50) and 100m butterfly (1:09.30) with only 11 years old. ...

, beating the South American record, with a time of 7:06.64. He also finished 19th in the 200-metre freestyle.

References

Folha Online

UOL profile

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mosca, Rafael 1982 births Living people Olympic swimmers for Brazil Swimmers at the 2003 Pan American Games Swimmers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Brazilian male freestyle swimmers Medalists at the FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) Pan American Games silver medalists for Brazil Pan American Games medalists in swimming Medalists at the 2003 Pan American Games Swimmers from Rio de Janeiro (city) 20th-century Brazilian people 21st-century Brazilian people