Brazilian Olympian Larissa Oliveira won 3 races over the weekend in her first race back from a car crash that resulted in her having leg surgery.
In early March, a tree branch fell and landed on Oliveira’s car, which caused a large perforation injury on her right thigh. Less than a month afterward, she was walking with some difficulty, but had not yet set a return date to the pool.
That return came this weekend at the Campeonato Paulista Junior and Senior, hosted by Unisanta in Santos. The meet was a high-level regional affair that included 7 members of Brazil’s World Junior Championships team and saw the South American and Brazilian Records broken in the women’s 1500m freestyle.
The most encouraging news, though, was Oliveira’s return to racing: her first competition coming 111 days after her accident. She won the 100 free (55.26), 200 free (2:00.33), and 400 free (4:18.00). She also placed 3rd in the 800 free (8:59.83). That left her 3rd in the individual scoring rankings behind only the record-breaking Joanna Maranhao and Julia Sebastian.
Oliveira is the Brazilian and South American Record holder in the 100 free, which she swam in 54.03 at last year’s Maria Lenk Trophy (Brazil’s Olympic Trials). The 24-year old was a member of Brazil’s Olympic Team last summer and has 3 Short Course World Championship and 3 Pan American Games medals on her resume.
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