https://youtu.be/z11H3WtzVfM

In 2022 Adherbal de Oliveira of the Leme to Pontal Swimming Association (LPSA) told the incredible story of Ricardo Perlingeiro Mendes da Silva (55, Brazil, MSF bio here) from Niterói in Rio de Janeiro. The then 55-year-old from Brazil completed a 16 km swim from Travessia do Leme à Barra da Tijuca.

Oliveira explained, “Mendes learned to swim at a very young age, participating in pool competitions, always racing breaststroke. However, by the age of 10, he had stopped swimming, diving into a long period of a sedentary lifestyle. It was more than 40 years without doing any athletics which led to him being overweight and other health problems.

However, three years ago, Mendes decided to turn around his sedentary lifestyle and return to sports under the guidance of renowned open water swimming coach Sidney Pereira as well as change his eating habits and became a vegan.

The return to swimming was not easy and adapting to the waves of the sea has been a daily challenge, since Mendes does not feel very comfortable swimming other than breaststroke. Based on this characteristic, Pereira has been trained him alternating freestyle and breaststroke sets in an attempt to gradually increase his training volume.

As this is a process that is still in progress, Mendes has been swimming in the open water alternating freestyle and breaststroke. It was no different in the 16 km Travessia do Leme à Barra da Tijuca.

He started on the dawn of June 16th. Despite being winter in Brazil and having some climatic instabilities, the forecast was very good with the promise of a moonlit night and southeast swells of 1 meter, weak north winds, and a water temperature close to 22ºC.

The start took place at 4:40 am, requiring Mendes to swim and navigate alongside the escort boat at night. He had some difficulties with navigation, but he overcome the night and managed to swim an average speed close to 3 km/hour, always alternating breaststroke and freestyle, progressing well.

As expected, the conditions were favorable and Mendes experienced a beautiful sunrise, the islands that form the Cagarras Archipelago and all the natural coastal beauties such as Morro do Vidigal and Pedra da Gávea. He accompanied by the LPSA observer Ricardo Ferreira and Coach Pereira who guided him from the escort boat Otto Magalhães Jr piloted by Commander Ary da Conceição.“

Swimming 6,290 meters freestyle and 9,710 meters breaststroke, Mendes completed the challenge by reaching the sands of Barra da Tijuca beach in 6 hours 1 minute by his friends and teammates from the Sidney Pereira Team.

Mendes now focuses on breaststroke marathon swims – a far cry from his competitive swimming youth as a 50-meter sprint breaststroke specialist.

From the outset of his swimming career, breaststroke was his natural and preferred style. “I never felt fully comfortable swimming other strokes, particularly freestyle. However, the dominance of freestyle in competitive training environments, combined with a lack of coaching support on a breaststroke-focused development, eventually led me to withdraw from swimming at the age of ten. For the next four decades, I remained largely sedentary, engaging only occasionally in strength training and walking, which gradually resulted in weight gain and other health issues.”

But in 2019, Mendes returned to swimming, training both in the pool and, for the first time, in the open water. Initially, he took part in a few open water events, competing mainly in freestyle races. After joining the Sidney Pereira Team, he became motivated to develop his training approach, particularly by combining breaststroke and crawl. He later applied a mixed-stroke strategy in his first marathon swim: the 13 km Fuga da Ilha in Angra dos Reis in 2021, organized by Maratona Aquática Sem Fronteira (MASF), and the 16 km Leme–Barra crossing in Rio de Janeiro in 2022 where he used both breaststroke and freestyle.

Following the 2022 Leme–Barra swim, Mendes was encouraged by Oliveira to consider completing future crossings entirely in breaststroke — a pivotal moment that redefined his athletic path. In agreement with his coach, Mendes committed to swimming exclusively in breaststroke from that point onward.

He also follows a vegan lifestyle, originally adopted to improve his health, and aligns his training with a plant-based nutritional approach focused on endurance and recovery.

On July 23rd 2023, at the age of 56, he became the first swimmer to complete the North Triple Crown of the Leme to Pontal Swimming Association after completing the Icaraí–Piratininga, Boa Viagem–Itaipu, and Boa Viagem–Itaipuaçu swims, exclusively in breaststroke. These three courses, located along the northern coast of Rio de Janeiro state in the city of Niterói, had no prior records of successful crossings in any stroke and were all pioneered by Mendes.

He also became the first swimmer to complete the 14 km Pontal–Barra de Guaratiba crossing, a previously unattempted and undocumented course in the city of Rio de Janeiro, using breaststroke only. In addition to these pioneering swims, Mendes is the first athlete to complete several established marathon courses — such as the Desafio 14 Bis and Leme–Barra — exclusively in breaststroke, all under official observation.

Marathon Swims since 2023

• Pioneered the North Triple Crown of the Leme to Pontal Swimming Association routes.
• January 22nd 2023 – pioneered the 8.8 km Icaraí to Piratininga crossing in Niterói, Brazil in 3 hours 39 minutes 29 seconds in breaststroke at the age of 55.
• May 7th 2023 – pioneered the 18 km Boa Viagem to Itaipuaçu crossing from Niterói to Maricá, Brazil in 5 hours 32 minutes 5 seconds in breaststroke at the age of 56
• July 23rd 2023 – pioneered the 13 km Boa Viagem to Itaipu crossing in Niterói, Brazil in 4 hours 27 minutes 16 seconds in breaststroke at the age of 56
• February 5th 2023 – pioneered the 14 km Icaraí to Camboinhas crossing in Niterói, Brazil in 4 hours 55 minutes 41 seconds in breaststroke at the age of 54
• March 19th 2023 – pioneered the 24 km Desafio 14 Bis crossing in São Paulo, Brazil in 6 hours 46 minutes 12 seconds in breaststroke at the age of 55
• December 20th 2024 – pioneered the 13.3 km Pontal to Barra de Guaratiba crossing in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 4 hours 59 minutes in breaststroke at the age of 57
• April 19th 2025 – pioneered 16 km Leme to Barra da Tijuca crossing in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 5 hours 49 minutes in breaststroke at the age of 58
• November 7th 2021 – 13 km Fuga da Ilha Grande crossing in Angra dos Reis, Brazil in 5 hours 45 minutes 22 seconds in breaststroke and freestyle at the age of 54
• June 16th 2022 – 16 km Leme to Barra da Tijuca crossing in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 6 hours 1 minute in breaststroke and freestyle at the age of 55

© 2025 Daily News of Open Water Swimming

“to educate, enthuse, and entertain all those who venture beyond the shoreline“

A World Open Water Swimming Federation project