Bruno Fratus To Miss World Championships For First Time In A Decade

2023 BRAZIL TROPHY

• May 30 – June 3, 2023
• Santos Dumont Park and Sports Center, Recife, Brazil
• LCM (50m)
• World Championship Selection Criteria
• Meet Central
• Start List

Brazilian sprinting legend Bruno Fratus is still working his way back from last year’s shoulder surgery, knocking him out of the upcoming Brazil Trophy and therefore the 2023 World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka.

Fratus, who underwent the fourth shoulder surgery of his career last summer, said in a recent interview with Olympics.com that he’s not 100 percent and thus won’t race this summer, with his eyes set on the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

“Most likely I will not participate in the trials, which means that I will probably not participate in the Pan American Games and the Worlds. But all in order to be 100% recovered for the Paris Games. It’s the big stage, the big goal”, said Fratus.

Fratus’ absence from the upcoming Brazil Trophy was confirmed with the recent release of the psych sheets.

“Many times we have to make sacrifices in our sports career,” he said. “That’s a sacrifice I believe I’ll need to make to be healthy next year. To be able to be competitive and firm. Even because the fight we want is big. So I don’t want to be in any kind of pain. In Paris, I don’t want to be in any kind of doubt.”

 

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The 33-year-old is planning to return to competition in November, at the Jose Finkel Trophy in Brazil, and he also has designs on racing the U.S. Open in December before tackling the 2024 World Championships in Doha in the lead-up to Paris.

“We are doing everything [recovery] right, with a lot of love, with a lot of care. Like grandma preparing the cake to serve,” he said.

“To treat the body with a little more affection, respect, I’m recovering with less haste, to allow me to be 100% physically, mentally and emotionally next year, which is when there’s the test that really matters.”

If Fratus were to qualify for Paris 2024, it would be his fourth consecutive Olympic appearance, having competed at London 2012, Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020.

In Tokyo, he won bronze in the men’s 50 freestyle at the age of 32, making him the oldest swimmer to win their first Olympic medal.

At the World Championship level, Fratus has represented Brazil five times, including doing so four straight times from 2015 to 2022. He also competed in 2011, but missed the 2013 championships. His absence this summer will mark the first time in 10 years he won’t be representing Brazil at Worlds.

At the 2022 World Championships, where Fratus has said the shoulder injury occurred, he made history by breaking 22 seconds in the 50 free for the 100th time, though it came in a swim-off loss that saw him miss the final.

In his absence, the top seed in the men’s 50 free at the Brazil Trophy belongs to Gui Caribe, the University of Tennessee breakout star who is the only swimmer in the field entered under 22 seconds.