Rogério Aoki Romero (born 22 November 1969 in

Londrina Londrina (, literally "Little London") is a city located in the north of the state of Paraná, South Region, Brazil, and is away from the state capital, Curitiba. It is the second largest city in the state and fourth largest in the southern regi ...

, Paraná) is a former

backstroke Backstroke or back crawl is one of the four swimming styles used in competitive events regulated by FINA, and the only one of these styles swum on the back. This swimming style has the advantage of easy breathing, but the disadvantage of swimme ...

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 ...

, who competed at five consecutive

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The ina ...

for his native country, starting in 1988. A resident of Belo Horizonte, he won the gold medal in the 200-metre backstroke 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 PASO community, with events in 33 different sports. The main stadium was the Estadio Panamericano, a mul ...

Havana, Cuba 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.

. Twelve years later he once again did so at the 2003 Pan Am Games.

International career

At 18 years old, Romero was 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 ...

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

, where he finished 8th place in the 200-metre backstroke, 20th in the 100-metre backstroke, and 18th in the 4×100-metre medley. At the 200-metre backstroke, he broke his first South American record, with a time of 2:02.26 at heats. At the

1989 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships The third edition of the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, a long course (50 m) event, was held in 1989 in Tokyo, Japan at the Yoyogi National Olympic Pool from August 17–20. 1991 World Aquatics Championships The 1991 World Aquatics Championships took place at the Claremont Superdrome in Perth Perth is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the Australian states and territories of Australia, state of Western Australi ...

Perth Perth is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the Australian states and territories of Australia, state of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth most populous city in Aust ...

, he finished 13th in the 200-metre backstroke, and 20th in the 100-metre backstroke. At the

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.

, he won the gold medal in the 200-metre backstroke. Romero also finished 5th in the 100-metre backstroke. Romero was in

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 ...

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 ...

, where he finished 10th place in the 200-metre backstroke, and 21st in the 100-metre backstroke. At the 1993 FINA World Swimming Championships (25m), in

Palma de Mallorca Palma (; ; also known as ''Palma de Mallorca'', officially between 1983–88, 2006–08, and 2012–16) is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands in Spain. It is situated on the south coast of Mallorc ...

, Romero twice broke the South American record in the 200-metre backstroke, earning 1:57.35 in the heats, and 1:55.90 in the finals, finishing 4th. He also finished 5th in the 4×100-metre medley, along with Maurício Menezes, Gustavo Borges and José Carlos Souza. Participating in the 1994 World Aquatics Championships, held in September in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, the Brazilian got the 12th place in the 200-metre backstroke, and the 21st place in the 100-metre backstroke. At the

1995 Pan American Games File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake strike ...

Mar del Plata Mar del Plata is a city on the coast of the Argentine Sea, Atlantic Ocean, in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It is the seat of General Pueyrredón Partido, General Pueyrredón district. Mar del Plata is the second largest city in Buenos Aires ...

, he won the silver medal in the 4×100-metre medley and bronze in the 200-metre backstroke. He also finished 4th in the 100-metre backstroke. At the 1995 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of the same name, Brazil's List of Brazilian states by population, third-most populous state, and the List of largest citi ...

, he finished 7th in the 100-metre backstroke, with a time of 54.61. He also swam the 200-metre backstroke. Romero was in 1996 Summer Olympics in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,71 ...

, where he finished 15th in the 200-metre backstroke, and 24th in the 100-metre backstroke. He was at the 1997 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m), where he finished 10th in the 200-metre backstroke. Participating in the

1998 World Aquatics Championships The 8th FINA World Championships or the 1998 World Aquatics Championships were held from 8 to 17 January 1998 in Perth, Western Australia. The championships features competition in all five of FINA's disciplines: Swimming, Diving, Water Po ...

, he got the 13th place in the 200-metre backstroke, and 15th in the 100-metre backstroke. On December 1999, he broke the long course South American record of the 200-metre backstroke for the last time, with a time of 1:59.23. His record was only broken in 2007 Pan Am Games by

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 ...

. Romero was in

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 ( Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from ...

in Sydney, where he finished 7th place in the 200-metre backstroke (his best Olympic participation), and 24th in the 100-metre backstroke. Participating in the

2002 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) The 6th FINA Short Course World Championships were held in Moscow, Russia on April 3–7, 2002. The event took place in the 25m-pool of the Olympiiski-complex, which also hosted the swimming event at the 1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summ ...

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

, he got the 21st place in the 200-metre backstroke, and 28th in the 100-metre backstroke. 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 ...

, finished 26th in the 200-metre backstroke. 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 , 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 ...

, he won the gold medal in the 200-metre backstroke. Romero also finished 9th in the 100-metre backstroke. Romero was in 2004 Summer Olympics in

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

, where he finished 15th place in the 200-metre backstroke. He was for many years the South American record holder, a total of 29 South American records and 41 Brazilian records. Pan American champion, 15 times champion in 200-metre backstroke Brazil Swimming Trophy, 10 times South American champion in the 200-metre backstroke, all os this in 27 years of sports career.

After professional swimming

Between 2004 and 2006, Romero was Under-Secretary of Sports, of the state of

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is a state in Southeastern Brazil. It ranks as the second most populous, the third by gross domestic product (GDP), and the fourth largest by area in the country. The state's capital and largest city, Belo Horizonte (literall ...

. In 2007, he held the position of Deputy Secretary, of the Department of Sports and Youth of Minas Gerais. In 2013, he was the President of the National Forum of State Secretaries and Managers of Sport and Leisure.

References

External links

UOL Profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Romero, Rogerio 1969 births Living people Brazilian male backstroke swimmers Swimmers at the 1988 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1991 Pan American Games Swimmers at the 1992 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1995 Pan American Games Swimmers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2003 Pan American Games Swimmers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Olympic swimmers of Brazil Brazilian people of Japanese descent Sportspeople from Londrina Pan American Games gold medalists for Brazil Pan American Games silver medalists for Brazil Pan American Games bronze medalists for Brazil Pan American Games medalists in swimming Medalists at the 1991 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1995 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2003 Pan American Games 20th-century Brazilian people