A handful of Brazil’s top aquatic athletes have traveled to Portugal to resume their training for next summer’s Olympic Games.
The Brazilian swimming federation (the CBDA) announced this month that athletes in swimming, open water swimming, and synchronized swimming would be taking part in the “Europa Mission,” a team trip to Portugal to resume training.
The delegation includes open water 5K and 25K world champ Ana Marcela Cunha. It doesn’t include any of Brazil’s five pool swimming medalists at 2019 Worlds: Joao Gomes Junior, Felipe Lima, Etiene Medeiros, Bruno Fratus or Nicholas Santos.
Brazil has been hit especially hard by the coronavirus pandemic. According to the World Health Organization, the country has more than 2.4 million confirmed cases of COVID-19. That’s about 11,682 confirmed cases per one million in population – relative to other countries, that’s one of the higher rates in the world. Brazil has also had more than 88,500 deaths with COVID-19 – nearly double that of any other nation besides the United States.
Portugal has just 4,963 cases per million in population. The Brazilian delegation of swimmers will be in Rio Maior, Portugal through August 29, with a meet scheduled for August 14-16, according to the Brazilian swimming federation. Among the top Brazilian athletes included in the delegation are:
- Brandonn Almeida
- Breno Correia
- Felipe Franca
- Fernando Scheffer
- Gabriel Santos
- Guilherme Guido
- Leonardo Santos
- Marcelo Chierighini
- Marco Antonio Ferreira Junior
- Murilo Sartori
- Pedro Spajari
- Vinicius Lanza
- Viviane Jungblut
Update: Joao Gomes Junior was originally listed among the traveling swimmers, but he was quarantined in Brazil after testing positive for COVID-19. The original CBDA list also included Felipe Lima, but he’s currently training with Energy Standard in Turkey.
Three synchronized swimmers (Luisa Borges, Laura Miccuci, and Maria Bruno) are also in Portugal and will remain there through August 8.
- Ana Marcela Cunha
- Alexandre Finco
- Allan do Carmo
- Diogo Villarinho
- Fernando Ponte
- Henrique Figuerinha
- Victor Colones
Portugal is on the list of low Covid 19 mortality countries which also has kept up a strong TB vaccination program. Spain is on the non TB vaxx list with high mortality .
João Gomes did not go as he was diagnosed with covid
https://globoesporte.globo.com/olimpiadas/noticia/nadador-joao-gomes-jr-testa-positivo-para-covid-19-e-e-1a-baixa-da-missao-europa-do-cob.ghtml
Lima will stay training with energy standard and also won’t go