Nicholas Santos takes silver at the World Aquatics Championships at the age of 42 and is making history

This Sunday, the 19th, Brazil won its second medal at the World Aquatics Championships, which is being held in Budapest, Hungary. After Guilherme Costa won bronze in the 400-meter freestyle, the show this time went to veteran Nicholas Santos, 42, who took silver in the 50-meter butterfly.

In his 17th participation in the world championships, the Brazilian swimmer cut the distance in 22s78, behind only USA Caleb Dressel, who celebrated the gold medal by 22 seconds 57. Just to give you an idea, Nicolas Santos left behind several favorite names and was not a champion because he had a competitor He is considered the best swimmer today.

“Every World Cup is tough, but I knew that if I got into this final, I would have a chance. I got the silver for Brazil, I’m satisfied and tired too. Age is getting better, but I’m very happy,” the athlete told SporTV, realizing that his longevity is in the pools Swimming is the result of a lot of daily work.

It was the fourth time Nicholas climbed the podium in the history of the world championships: he took silver in Kazan 2015, repeated the medal color in Budapest 2017 and was bronze at Gwangju-2019, always in the 50-meter butterfly. He also shone in the world short (25 meters) championships with four podiums, one silver in 2014 and three gold medals in 2012, 2018, and 2021.

The successful path in the pools is the result of training and also the experience of dealing with difficulties within the competition. “Maturity weighs. Getting to this position, with the noise, there are people who are nervous. I don’t feel anything, I am calm, I can give a shield, it helps a lot. Sometimes anxiety is in the way, this is common, but I am already protected. We must remember We always control our heads.”

He placed 13th in the playoffs and 16 candidates entered for a place in the final. After that, he was left with only the last place to make the decision, with the worst time between the classifieds. But he did well and got on the podium. “I am very happy, with a fourth medal in a row at the World Championships, since 2015 I participate and got on the podium. I made adjustments to the final and it worked out well. I swam as much as I could and did enough to get to the podium,” he commented.

Sunday’s results at the World Aquatics Championships

50 m butterfly

Nicholas Santos – 22s78 – Silver

1500m freestyle

Beatriz Desotti – 16 min 08 w 35

Vivian Jongblot – 16 min 09 min 27

100 pm noon

Guilherme Pacito – 54s26 – 17

100 m chest

Jennifer Conceição – 1m 07s 40s – 17

200m freestyle

Fernando Schaeffer – 1 min 46 w 11 – 9

Prino Korea – 1 min 49 w 79 – 22

artistic swimming

Brazil reached the technical team final. The team made up of Vitoria Casal, Giulia Catherino, Raffaela Garcia, Luisa Lopez, Laura Micucci, Selena Rangel, Gabriella Wrigley and Ana Giulia Veloso included 12th in the playoffs and will play in the final.