Willy Otto Jordan (15 September 1920 – 7 October 2019) was a Brazilian swimmer. Born 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 ...

, he took up swimming in 1932 at the age of 12 and, by the end of the decade, was one of the most prominent names in the city's blooming swimming movement. In 1940 he broke the South American records in the 200-metre freestyle and the 100-metre breaststroke as well as the Brazilian record in the 100-metre freestyle while competing against touring swimmers from Japan, including Olympic medalists

Masanori Yusa was a Japanese freestyle swimmer. He won gold medals in the 4 × 200 m relay in the 1932 and 1936 Olympics, setting world records on both occasions. In 1936 he finished almost simultaneously with Shigeo Arai and Masaharu Taguchi in the 100 m rac ...

and

Tetsuo Hamuro was a Japanese breaststroke swimmer. In 1935 he set a world record in the 200 m. Next year he won the gold medal in this event at the 1936 Olympics, setting a new Olympic record at 2:41.5. Hamuro swam the traditional breaststroke, while some of ...

. Later that year he was national champion in the breaststroke and relay events, as well as the 100m freestyle, for the first time. Jordan was offered a full scholarship to

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

but declined it because of his support for, and ancestry from, Germany. He continued swimming and improved several South American records during the war years while working for his father's company. He resumed participation in international tournaments following the conflict and competed in the

1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and also known as London 1948) were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, England, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus ca ...

in London. Participating in two events, he finished sixth in a field of thirty-two swimmers in the men's 200-metre breaststroke and eighth among fourteen nations in the men's 4×200-metre freestyle relay, alongside Sérgio Rodrigues,

Rolf Kestener Rolf Egon Kestener (8 July 1930 – 8 October 1998) was a former international freestyle swimmer from Brazil who participated in a Summer Olympics for his native country. He was born in São Paulo. His son, Cláudio Kestener, participated in t ...

, and

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 ...

. At the

1951 Pan American Games The 1951 Pan American Games (the I Pan American Games) were held in Buenos Aires, Argentina between February 25 and March 9, 1951. The Pan American Games' origins were at the Games of the X Olympiad in Los Angeles, United States, where official ...

he won a silver medal in the inaugural 200-metre breaststroke. He was made head of Brazil's swimming delegation to 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 ...

in Helsinki, although he did not participate in any events, and retired from active competition in 1954.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jordan, Willy Otto 1920 births 2019 deaths Swimmers from São Paulo Brazilian male breaststroke swimmers Brazilian male freestyle swimmers Swimmers at the 1948 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1951 Pan American Games Olympic swimmers for Brazil Brazilian people of German descent Pan American Games silver medalists for Brazil Pan American Games medalists in swimming Medalists at the 1951 Pan American Games