COSTA Guilherme

General
TECHNIQUE CHANGE
During the COVID-19 pandemic he took the time off to do some biomechanics tests that pushed him to make changes in his technique. "I used to swim with a bigger number of strokes, 42 every 50 metres, and now I swim 38. Besides, we did a biomechanics analysis and we realised other things, for example, I turned a lot my hip and now I don't do it that much. I've become more efficient. It was difficult to do these changes because I was already adapted to them. Doing less strokes makes me feel more pain in my muscles but it will be worth in a long term." A middle and long distance swimmer in freestyle, he also added the 200m butterfly in his programme. "I like to swim 200m butterfly because it's the event I used to swim when I began. My working routine is 95% freestyle, but butterfly trainings do not affect. Actually, they help improving my physical strength and conditioning." (globoesporte.globo.com, 09 Dec 2020)

He became the first Brazilian swimmer to win gold in the 1500m freestyle at the Pan American Games when he finished first at the 2019 edition in Lima, Peru. (SportsDeskOnline, 25 Dec 2020)

In 2017 he became the first South American male swimmer to swim the 1500m freestyle under 15 minutes when he clocked 14:59.01 in at an event in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (yesswim.com.br, 08 Dec 2017; fina.org, 2020)