João Luiz Gomes Júnior (born 21 January 1986) is a Brazilian

breaststroke Breaststroke is a human swimming, swimming style in which the swimmer is on their chest and the torso does not rotate. It is the most popular recreational style due to the swimmer's head being out of the water a large portion of the time, and ...

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 ...

International career

2009–12

He was in the Brazilian national delegation who attended the

2009 World Aquatics Championships The 2009 World Aquatics Championships () or the XIII FINA World Championships were held in Rome, Italy from 18 July to 2 August 2009. This was the second time the championships were held in the city after being previously hosted in 1994 World Aq ...

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, where he competed in the 50-metre and 100-metre breaststroke. He went to the 50-metre breaststroke final, finishing in 7th place. He also finished 30th in the 100-metre breaststroke. Gomes got the gold medal at the 2009 Paris Open, in the 50-metre breaststroke. At 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 ...

, he won the silver medal in the 50-metre breaststroke, and bronze in the 100-metre breaststroke. He was at 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. M ...

in Irvine, where he finished 7th in the 50-metre breaststroke, and 13th in the 100-metre breaststroke. At 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) ...

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

, João finished 11th in the 50-metre breaststroke. Participating in the

2011 Summer Universiade The 2011 Summer Universiade ( zh, c=2011年夏季世界大学生运动会, labels=no), also known as the XXVI Summer Universiade ( zh, c=, s=第二十六届夏季世界大学生运动会, labels=no) and Shenzhen 2011, was hosted in Shenzhen, Gua ...

, João was silver medal in the 50-metre breaststroke, and bronze in the 100-metre breaststroke. At the

2012 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) The 11th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) was held in Istanbul, Turkey on 12–16 December 2012. This swimming-only championships took place in the Sinan Erdem Dome; all events were swum in a 25-meter ( short-course) pool. The United S ...

, in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

, João was very close to getting a historic medal. He finished in 4th place in the 50-metre breaststroke and 11th in the 100-metre breaststroke, and helped Brazil's 4×100-metre medley to go to the final where the relay finished in 4th place.

2013–16

At the

2013 World Aquatics Championships The 15th FINA World Championships (, ) were held from 20 July to 4 August in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of 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 c ...

, João finished 14th in the 100-metre breaststroke. In the 50-metre breaststroke, he qualified in third place for the final, with a time of 27.05 seconds. In the final, finished 5th, with a time of 27.20 seconds. 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 c ...

Gold Coast, Queensland The Gold Coast, also known by its initials, GC, is a coastal city and region in the state of Queensland, Australia, located approximately south-southeast of the centre of the list of Australian capital cities, state capital, Brisbane. It is ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, he finished 10th in the 100-metre breaststroke. At the

2014 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) The 12th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) were held in Doha, Qatar on 3–7 December 2014. The Hamad Aquatic Centre in the Aspire Zone hosted the event. Host selection On 14 December 2010, FINA announced that Catania, Italy would host t ...

Doha Doha ( ) is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor (city), Al Khor and Lusail, it is home to most of the country's population. It ...

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

, João won three gold medals in three Brazilian relays, by participating at heats, in the men's 4 × 50 metre medley relay, in the men's 4 × 100 metre medley relay, and in the 4 × 50 metre mixed medley relay. João also finished 8th in the men's 50 metre breaststroke and 23rd in the men's 100 metre breaststroke. On 4 December 2014, João was tested positive for

hydrochlorothiazide Hydrochlorothiazide, sold under the brand name Hydrodiuril among others, is a diuretic medication used to treat hypertension and swelling due to fluid build-up. Other uses include treating diabetes insipidus and renal tubular acidosis and t ...

, a so-called "specified substance" which may be used to mask performance-enhancing drugs. All his results achieved on or after 4 December 2014 shall be annulled. The results of the Brazilian relays obtained were not cancelled. At the 2016 Maria Lenk Trophy, he classified to the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

in Rio de Janeiro, with a time of 59.06 in the 100-meter breaststroke, second best time in the world in the year, almost breaking the Henrique Barbosa's South American record of 59.03, obtained in 2009 with technological supersuits.

2016 Summer Olympics

At the

, he finished 5th in the men's 100 metre breaststroke final. He also finished 6th in the men's 4 × 100 metre medley relay.

2017–2020

At the

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

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

, in the Men's 50 metre breaststroke, he broke two times the Americas record, with 26.67 at heats and 26.52 in the final, to obtain the silver medal. He also finished 11th in the Men's 100 metre breaststroke, and 5th In the Men's 4 × 100 metre medley relay, along with

Henrique Martins Henrique de Souza Martins (born 14 November 1991 in Campinas) is a Brazilian competitive swimmer and male pageant titleholder who won Mister Brazil 2023. He represented Brazil at the Mister Supranational 2023 competition in Małopolska, Pola ...

Guilherme Guido Guilherme Augusto Guido (born 12 February 1987) is a Brazilian backstroke swimming, backstroke swimmer who specializes in sprint events. He was twice a finalist in the 100 metre backstroke at World Championships When Guido was young, he was a bi ...

and

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 ...

. At the 2018 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, he won a bronze medal in the 100-metre breaststroke, with a time of 59.60. 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, , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ; formerly romanized as Hangchow is a sub-provincial city in East China and the capital of Zhejiang province. With a population of 13 million, the municipality comprises ten districts, two counti ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, he finished 6th in the Men's 50 metre breaststroke, 9th in the Mixed 4 × 50 metre medley relay, and 11th in the Men's 100 metre breaststroke. At the 2019 Maria Lenk Trophy, he broke the Americas record in the 50 metre breaststroke, with a time of 26.42. 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 (; ), formerly romanized as Kwangju, is South Korea's list of cities in South Korea, sixth-largest metropolis. It is a designated Special cities of South Korea, metropolitan city under the direct control of the central government's Home ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

, he won the bronze medal in the Men's 50 metre breaststroke. It was the first time that Brazil got two medals in the same event, in a World Championship: Felipe Lima got the silver. In the Men's 4 × 100 metre medley relay, he finished 6th, helping Brazil qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. He also finished 11th in the Men's 100 metre breaststroke. At the

2019 Pan American Games The 2019 Pan American Games (), officially the XVIII Pan American Games () and commonly known as Lima 2019, were a multi-sport event governed by the Panam Sports Organization held in Lima, Peru from July 26 to August 11, 2019, with preliminar ...

held in

Lima Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

, João Gomes Jr. debuts in Pan American Games late but efficiently, earning gold in the Men's 100 metre breaststroke by defeating Olympic medalist

Cody Miller Cody William Miller (born January 9, 1992) is an American competitive swimmer. He is a former world record holder in both the men's 4×50 meter freestyle relay and the mixed 4×50 meter freestyle relay as well as a former American record holde ...

, and the 2017 World's runner-up

Kevin Cordes Kevin Cordes ( ; born August 13, 1993) is an American competitive swimmer who specializes in breaststroke events. He currently represents the Cali Condors which is part of the International Swimming League. Cordes was a member of the 2016 U.S. ...

, with a time of 59.51. He also won a gold medal 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 2001 Census Music * ''Mixed'' (album) ...

, and a silver medal in the Men's 4 × 100 metre medley relay.

2021–24

At the 2021 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) in

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi is the capital city of the United Arab Emirates. The city is the seat of the Abu Dhabi Central Capital District, the capital city of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and the UAE's List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, second-most popu ...

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

, in the Men's 50 metre breaststroke, close to his 36 year old birthday, he won a bronze medal, with a time of 25.80. He also finished 4th in the Men's 4 × 50 metre medley relay. 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. These championships included five disciplines, with high diving not staged for this edi ...

held in Budapest, Hungary, he qualified 3rd at heats, but was disqualified in the semifinals of the Men's 50 metre breaststroke. He also finished 9th in the 4 × 100 metre mixed medley relay, along with Guilherme Basseto, Giovanna Diamante and Stephanie Balduccini and 10th in the Men's 4 × 100 metre medley relay, along with Guilherme Basseto, Matheus Gonche and Luiz Gustavo Borges. At the

2022 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) The 16th FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) took place from 13 to 18 December 2022 in Melbourne, Australia at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre.

, in Melbourne, Australia, he suffered a disqualification in the heats of the Men's 50 metre breaststroke. At the

2023 World Aquatics Championships The 2023 World Aquatics Championships, the 20th edition of the World Aquatics Championships, were held in Fukuoka, Japan, from 14 to 30 July 2023. Originally scheduled to be held in 2021 as the 19th championships, the championships were postpo ...

, in Fukuoka, Japan, at the age of 37, he finished 7th in the Men's 50 metre breaststroke.

References

External links