Brazil’s Nicholas Santos to Train for 2016 Olympics in Auburn with Brett Hawke

Nicholas dos Santos will be the next Brazilian sprinter to make his way through Brett Hawke’s program at Auburn University.

In an interview with Brazil’s Globo, Dos Santos says that during the Pan Pac Championships, where Hawke was on the Brazilian staff, the two agreed that Dos Santos would train with Hawke’s group beginning in January and until the 2016 Olympic Games, alongside his teammate (and rival for Olympic spots) Bruno Fratus.

The 34-year old Nicholas dos Santos says that as he’s aged, focusing on a healthy diet, including drinking rice milk, has helped him continue to be fast as an older swimmer, and that as compared to Sao Paulo, where he trains now, the health foods he wants are cheaper and easier to find in the United States.

Dos Santos also hinted that this might be his last run at the Olympics, and that after Rio, he might turn his focus to World Cups and World Short Course Championships. Dos Santos, with an electric start and very good underwaters, excels in short course meters, where he’s the defending World Champion in the 50 fly.

Dos Santos, for all of his success, has never won an Olympic or World Championship medal, with his biggest international achievements being a gold in the 50 free at the 2007 World University Games and a silver at the 2010 Pan Pac Championships.

Hawke is only 5 years older than dos Santos, and at one point the two were actually competitors, including at the 2002 World Short Course Championships.