Renato Ramalho (born April 17, 1968 in

Curitiba Curitiba () is the capital and largest city in the state of Paraná (state), Paraná in Brazil. The city's population was 1,948,626 , making it the List of cities in Brazil by population, eighth most populous city in Brazil and the largest in ...

) is a former international medley

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 ...

. He participated for his native country at the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

and

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

. He started swimming at the age of five, at Clube Israelita Paranaense. His father, former captain of the

Brazil men's national volleyball team The Brazil men's national volleyball team is governed by the Confederação Brasileira de Voleibol ''( Brazilian Volleyball Confederation)'' and takes part in international volleyball competitions. Brazil has three gold medals at the Olympic Game ...

along with other swimming enthusiasts, formed a parents' association to promote the competitive team, in the

1970s File:1970s decade montage.jpg, Clockwise from top left: U.S. President Richard Nixon doing the V for Victory sign after his resignation from office following the Watergate scandal in 1974; The United States was still involved in the Vietnam War i ...

, called Clube do Golfinho. Over time, the association grew and, faced with the lack of interest on the part of Clube Israelita to keep the team competitive, the parents bought a plot of land, built the swimming pool and founded the Clube do Golfinho, in 1977.Olimpianos - Atletas Olímpicos Brasileiros: RENATO RAMALHO
Acessado em 17 de fevereiro de 2017 At the age of 11, due to the departure of coach Carlos Fernandez, he joined Clube Curitibano. At the age of 13, coach Glauco Putomati, arguing that Renato had no talent for swimming, suggested that he go play

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

, as his father had done. His mother did not accept the denial and appealed to the coach of the women's team, Leonardo Del Vescovo, to train him. Even with resistance, this happened and, after a year, the groups were unified. At 16 he was Brazilian champion. Ramalho participated at the

1987 Pan American Games The 1987 Pan American Games, officially known as the X Pan American Games, was a major international multi-sport event held in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, on August 7–23, 1987. Over 4,300 athletes from 38 countries in the Americas c ...

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 ...

, finishing 4th in the 400-metre individual medley. At the

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

, he finished 24th in the 400-metre individual medley, and 29th in the 200-metre individual medley. On December 1, 1990, he broke the short-course Brazilian record in the 400-metre individual medley, with a time of 4:19.20. In late 2001, the record was still his. He was at the

1991 World Aquatics Championships The 1991 World Aquatics Championships took place at the Claremont Superdrome in Perth, Western Australia from 3 to 13 January 1991 with 1142 participating athletes. Medal table Medal summary Diving ;Men ;Women Open water swimming ;M ...

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, where he finished 15th in the 400-metre individual medley, and 34th in the 200-metre individual medley. Ramalho participated at the

1991 Pan American Games The 1991 Pan American Games were held in Havana, Cuba from August 2 to August 18, 1991. There were 4,519 athletes from 39 countries of the Pan American Sports Organization, PASO community, with events in 33 different sports. The main stadium was ...

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

, finishing 6th in the 400-metre individual medley, and 8th in the 200-metre individual medley. At the

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 ...

, Ramalho finished 21st in the 400-metre individual medley, and 35th in the 200-metre individual medley. Ramalho was seven times Brazilian medley champion, in the 90s. After retiring from swimming, Renato graduated in Business in Arizona in 1995 and returned to Brazil to undertake in Curitiba. After that, became a partner 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 a swimming academy. In March 2002 was inaugurated the 1st unit of the academy, which now has 5 units.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ramalho, Renato 1967 births Living people Brazilian male medley swimmers Swimmers at the 1987 Pan American Games Swimmers at the 1988 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1991 Pan American Games Swimmers at the 1992 Summer Olympics Olympic swimmers for Brazil Sportspeople from Curitiba Pan American Games competitors for Brazil