Gustavo França Borges (born 2 December 1972) is a Brazilian former competitiveswimmer.[1] He swam for Brazil in four Summer Olympic Games:1992,1996,2000 and2004. With four medals in swimming, as of 2000 Borges had won the fourth-most Olympic medals of any Brazilian athlete, with one in 1992, two in 1996 and one in 2000. SailorsRobert Scheidt andTorben Grael and canoeistIsaquias Queiroz have won five, and gymnastRebeca Andrade won six. As of 2000, he had won eightPan American Games gold medals, the third-most of any Brazilian competitor. Borges was Brazil's flagbearer for the Closing Ceremony at the2004 Summer Olympics.
Borges lives inSão Paulo, where he runs his own swimming school.[2] He had formerly resided in the United States, first inJacksonville, Florida and then inAnn Arbor, Michigan while he was a student at Michigan. He attended theUniversity of Michigan in the mid-1990s, where he competed and trained for the university's swim team, managed by Hall of Fame CoachJon Urbanchek and graduated with a degree in Economics.[3] His teammates at Michigan includedEric Namesnik andMarcel Wouda in the mid-1990s.
Borges was born inRibeirão Preto, Brazil, but lived inItuverava throughout his childhood. In 1981, at the age of nine, he represented his school, placing third in the 50-meter freestyle, his first podium finish. Earlier, he had participated in swimming lessons at Associação Atlética Ituveravense.[4] In 1984, inSão João da Boa Vista, Gustavo won his first medal in official competition in the 100-meter breaststroke. Borges was a runner-up at the São Paulo state championship, and a runner-up at the Teto Olímpico in breaststroke, for the 11-12 age group category.[4]
At the age of 15 in 1987, he trained and competed for theAssociação Atlética Francana. Borges won the bronze in the 100-meter freestyle and silver in the 50-meter freestyle at the São Paulo Swimming Championship, in the A/B Youth category. That year, Borges left Ituverava, moved to São Carlos and defended his titles at theSão Carlos Clube. At the São Paulo's Summer Youth Championship in 1988, he won gold in the 50-meter and silver in the 100-meter freestyle events. Borges' times qualified him to compete in the Brazilian Championship, for the Júlio Delamare Trophy.[4]
In 1991, Borges joinedThe Bolles School in Jacksonville and quickly distinguished himself as one of America's foremost high school swimmers.[4] He was the primary swimmer on Bolles' 1991 4x100 Freestyle Relay team that set a national high-school record with a recorded time of 2:59.98.[4] That relay, which broke the old national record by 1.70 seconds, would later be disputed for claiming to be an official national record.[4] This was due to the fact that the Florida high-school season officially is held in the fall, but the meet in which the record was set occurred at a Philadelphia prep school invitational in February 1991. His Bolles' 4x100 national high school relay record held until 2012.[4]
In 1989, after joining theEsporte Clube Pinheiros, Borges began to gain national fame. At 17, he began placing ahead of the adult Brazilian swimmerCristiano Michelena, who had formerly dominated the 100-meter and 200-meter events in Brazilian national competition. Borges won the Brazil Trophy, awarded at the best known and best attended tournament in Brazil, capturing two gold medals in the 50-meter and 100-meter freestyle.[4]
In 1990, Borges began gaining recognition from victories in international competition. In the South American championship held inRosario, Argentina, he won gold in three high profile freestyle events; the 50-meter freestyle, and both the 4×100 and 4×200-meter freestyle relays. In July, at theJose Finkel Trophy—the Brazilian short course championship—he became the first Brazilian to complete the 100-meter freestyle under 49 seconds with a time of 48.59 seconds, and was summoned to swim in the1991 World Aquatics Championships inPerth, Australia. The same year, Borges went to the United States to study atThe Bolles School in Jacksonville, Florida.[4]
At the1991 World Aquatics Championships, Borges finished in 12th in the 100-meter freestyle, breaking the South American record with a time of 50.77 seconds, and also in the 50-meter freestyle (23.15 seconds).[4] He also finished 28th in the 200-meter freestyle.[5] Borges won his first important international medals in the1991 Pan American Games inHavana. He won the 100-meter freestyle setting a Pan Am Games record, and was a silver medalist in the 200-meter freestyle. He won a bronze at the 1991 Pan Am Games in the 50-meter freestyle, breaking the South American record.[4][6] In relay events at the 1991 Pan Ams, he won gold in the 4×100-meter freestyle, and silver in the 4×200-meter freestyle.[6]
Participating in his first Olympics the 1992 Summer Olympics inBarcelona, Borges won the silver medal in the 100-meter freestyle with a time of 49.43 seconds, a South American record,[7] losing the gold toAlexander Popov. There was a delay after the end of the event as a result of a malfunction in Borges lanetimer, requiring an official judge's review of video recordings to verify Borge's second place finish.[8] Borges even overcame his idol,Matt Biondi, to win the silver medal.In other Barcelona Olympic events, Borges placed sixth overall in the 4×100-meter freestyle, seventh in the 4×200-meter freestyle, 13th in the 50-meter freestyle and 22nd in the 200-meter freestyle.[4][9][10]
In 1993, Borges broke threeworld records onthe short course. The first was on 2 July, at the Jose Finkel Trophy inSantos, Brazil. Borges's time was 47.94 seconds in the 100-metre freestyle, setting a record that lasted until 1 January 1994, when it broken byAlexander Popov. On 7 July, the Brazilian team comprisingFernando Scherer,Teófilo Ferreira,José Carlos Souza and Gustavo Borges broke the world record in the 4×100-meter freestyle with a time of 3:13.97; the previous record time of 3:14.00.had been set by Sweden on 19 March 1989. On 5 December, Brazil again beat the world record with the same team, with a time of 3:12.11.[4] This mark was achieved in1993 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m), which Borges won. He also won gold in the 4×100-meter freestyle, silver in the 100-meter freestyle and bronze in 4×200-meter freestyle—breaking the South American record with a time of 7:09.38. He also finished fifth in the4×100-meter medley, along withMaurício Menezes,José Carlos Souza andRogério Romero, and fifth in the200-meter freestyle.
At the September1994 World Aquatics Championships inRome, Borges won bronze in the 100-meter freestyle and in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay.[4][10] He also finished fourth in the 50-meter freestyle and 11th in the 200-meter freestyle.[11]
1995 was an important year for Borges. In March at the1995 Pan American Games held in Argentina, he became two-time champion of the 100-meter freestyle and won gold in the 200-meter freestyle, both with Pan Am Games records. He won two more silver medals in the 4×100-meter and 4×200-meter freestyle events.[12] In August, he went to the1995 Summer Universiade, where he won two silver medals in the 100-meter freestyle and 4×100-meter freestyle. At the end of the year, at the1995 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) inRio de Janeiro, Borges became two-time 4×100-meter freestyle champion. He also won the 200-meter freestyle gold, breaking the South American record, with a time of 1:45.55, silver in the 100-meter freestyle and bronze in the 4×200-meter freestyle.[10][13][14]
Borges participated in the1996 Summer Olympics inAtlanta, becoming the first Brazilian to win three Olympic medals, a feat achieved byTorben Grael in the same games. Borges won the silver medal in the 200-meter freestyle with a time of 1:48.08, and bronze in the 100-meter freestyle with a time of 49.02 seconds, both South American records. The 100-meter freestyle record was only beaten byFernando Scherer in August 1998, and the 200-metre freestyle was only beaten byRodrigo Castro in 2008. Borges also finished fourth in the 4×100-meter freestyle and 12th in the 50-meter freestyle.[4][10]
At the1997 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m), Borges won gold in the 200-meter freestyle and silver in the 100-meter freestyle.[10][14] He also finished sixth in the50-meter freestyle.
At the1998 World Aquatics Championships in Perth, Australia, Borges finished fifth in the 100-meter freestyle, eighth in the 200-meter freestyle and sixth in the 4×100-meter freestyle.[15] At the end of 1998, Borges was part of the Brazilian team which broke its third consecutiveworld record in the 4×100-metre freestyle relay on short course. On 20 December, shortly after the end of theJose Finkel Trophy,Fernando Scherer,Carlos Jayme,Alexandre Massura and Gustavo Borges, in order, fell the pool atClub de Regatas Vasco da Gama with a time of 3:10.45, which would only be broken in 2000 by the Swedish team.[4][16] At the same tournament, Borges also broke the South American record in the 100-meter freestyle in short course with a time of 47.14 seconds and the 200-meter freestyle record with a time of 1:44.40—the last record-breaking swims of his career.
In the1999 Pan American Games inWinnipeg, Borges led Brazil to its best Pan American Games swimming result of all time. In the 4×100-meter medley, a team comprising Borges,Alexandre Massura,Fernando Scherer andMarcelo Tomazini won the medley relay for the first time in the Pan's history with a time of 3:40.27, breaking the Pan American Games and South American records and securing a place in the2000 Summer Olympics. He also won the gold in the 200-meter freestyle and 4×100-meter freestyle—breaking the South American record—silver in the 4×200-meter freestyle—also breaking the South American record—bronze in the 100-meter freestyle,[4][17][18] and finished fourth in the 50-meter freestyle.[19] In this tournament, he joinedHugo Hoyama andClaudio Kano as Brazilians who won the most gold medals in the event's history, with seven each. Borges also broke the national record for medals at the Games, with 15l. This year, Borges' first son, Luiz Gustavo, was born.[4][17]
The2000 Summer Olympics inSydney saw Borges' last Olympic podium finish, when along withEdvaldo Valério,Carlos Jayme andFernando Scherer, he won the bronze in the 4×100-meter freestyle with a time of 3:17.40. Australia broke the world record and took the gold with a time of 3:13.67. Borges also participated in the 100-meter freestyle, finishing in 16th position.[4][10] During the Games, Gustavo was chosen byFINA to be part of a team of 12 athletes who would form a committee from 2000 to 2005. He was the only South American representative on the list. Brazil became one of the countries with a large representation within the Federation. Also in 2000, Borges started preparing to end his career and become an entrepreneur.[4]
At the2002 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) inMoscow, Borges won a silver in the 200-meter freestyle; it was his last FINA world medal.[4][20] He also finished fourth in the 4×200-meter freestyle, with a time of 0.4s, which won him the bronze medal.[21] Borges was in fifth place in the 4×100-meter freestyle,[22] seventh place in the 100-metre freestyle[23] and seventh place in the 4×100-metre medley[24] In this tournament, Borges broke—for the last time in his career—the South American record in short course in the 4×200-meter freestyle, with a time of 7:09.14,[25] and in the 4×100-meter medley with 3:35.59.[26][27]
In July, at the2003 World Aquatics Championships inBarcelona, Borges was in the 4×100-meter freestyle team, which finished in 12th place'[28] He was also in teams for the 4×200-meter freestyle—which finished ninth[29] and the 4×100-meter medley—which finished 17th.[30]
In August 2003 at the age of 30, Borges took part in the2003 Pan American Games—his fourth and final Pan American Games—which were held inSanto Domingo. He established himself as the greatest Brazilian medalist in the history of the tournament, having won 19 podium finishes, eight gold medals, eight silver and three bronze. In these Games, Borges helped Brazil's swimming team to win 21 medals—a record. Borges won gold in the 4×100-meter freestyle, silver in 4×200-meter freestyle, and bronze in the 100-meter freestyle.[31][32]
Also in 2003, Borges launches a book titled "Lessons from the water". He also became an entrepreneur, managing the Gustavo Borges Natação e Fitness in Curitiba.[4]
At the age of 31, Borges retired from swimming after competing in the2004 Summer Olympics inAthens. His only event was the qualifying for the 4×100-meter freestyle, in which Brazil finished in 12th place and did not reach the finals.[4][10] Having previously missed fouropening ceremonies due to swimming contests the next day, and never witnessing any Brazilian medal other than Scherer in 1996, Borges decided to watch the rest of the Olympics, and was Brazil's flag bearer at the closing ceremony.[33][34]
In 2012, Borges joined theInternational Swimming Hall of Fame, becoming the second Brazilian to be honored by the institution – the first wasMaria Lenk in 1988.[35]
Gustavo Borges is the former holder of the following records:[36]
| Race | Time | Date | Record | Pool | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50m freestyle[37] | 22.82 | August 1991 | South American | Long Course | ||
| 100m freestyle | 49.02 | 22 July 1996 | South American | Long Course | ||
| 200m freestyle[38] | 1:48.08 | 20 July 1996 | South American | Long Course | ||
| 4 × 100 m freestyle[39] | 3:17.18 | August 1999 | South American | Long Course | ||
| 4 × 200 m freestyle[40][41] | 7:22.92 | August 1999 | South American | Long Course | ||
| 4 × 100 m medley[42] | 3:40.27 | August 1999 | South American | Long Course | ||
| 50m freestyle | 21.90 | 27 June 1997 | Brazilian | Short Course | ||
| 100m freestyle[43][44] | 47.14 | 19 December 1998 | South American | Short Course | ||
| 200m freestyle[44][45] | 1:44.40 | 18 December 1998 | South American | Short Course | ||
| 4 × 100 m freestyle[46] | 3:10.45 | 20 December 1998 | World | Short Course | ||
| 4 × 200 m freestyle[25] | 7:09.14 | 4 April 2002 | South American | Short Course | ||
| 4 × 100 m medley[26][47] | 3:35.59 | 7 April 2002 | South American | Short Course | ||
| Records | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | World Record Holder Men's 100m Freestyle (25m) 2 July 1993 – January 1994 | Succeeded by |
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