She has already qualified for the Paris Olympics in open water swimming. Vivian Jungblut She has decided to skip this week's Brazilian Olympic trials in Rio de Janeiro after deadly flooding devastated her home state of Rio Grande do Sul.
As of Saturday, at least 136 people had died in the floods, another 125 were missing and 537,000 had been evacuated. Alongside her track and field activities, 27-year-old Jungblut also raises funds for the local Gremio Nautico Uniao swimming club. With more rain expected, many fear the situation will worsen further.
Jungblut qualified for the Paris Olympics by placing 14th in the women's 10km at the World Championships in Doha, Qatar in February. She will compete in the 800m freestyle (8:38.88, 24th place) and 1500m freestyle (16:21.29, 20th place) at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics and the 2022 World Championships in Budapest, Hungary. At the championships, he advanced to the finals in both events. She still holds the Brazilian national record for the 800m free (8:19.57), which she set at the 2016 Jose Finkel Trophy.
Jungblut won a bronze medal at the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile, but her main focus over the past year has been open water swimming. She told RSP Sport that she is not planning on competing in a pool event in Paris this summer.
Jungblut was joined in his recovery by several Brazilian athletes, including one who sacrificed his Olympic berth.lightweight double scull rower Ewald Becker and Piedro Tuchtenhagen He gave up everything and devoted his time to distributing aid throughout Rio Grande do Soul.
“I didn't really think about it,” Becker said. “It was my last chance to go to the Olympics. I was excited. But the flood took away my dream just as it took my life.”
Former Brazilian Olympic swimmer Nicholas Santos He contributed to rescue efforts along with famous surfers such as Olympic champion Italo Ferreira and big wave stars. Lucas “Chambo” Cianca and pedro scooby.
“Our team has grown stronger, putting all our experience in big wave surfing and difficult water from Nazaré and all the big wave locations,” Chianca said. “We were trying to save lives, we were just trying to help everyone here.”
