Djan Madruga

Djan Madruga

Personal information
Full name	Djan Garrido Madruga
Nationality	Brazil
Born	(1958-12-07) December 7, 1958 Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Height	1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)
Weight	69 kg (152 lb)
Sport
Sport	Swimming
Stroke(s)	Freestyle, Backstroke
Medal record Men's swimming Competitor for  Brazil Olympic Games Bronze 1980 Moscow 4x200m Freestyle Pan American Games Silver 1979 San Juan 400m Freestyle Silver 1979 San Juan 1500m Freestyle Silver 1979 San Juan 4x200m Freestyle Silver 1983 Caracas 4x100m Freestyle Silver 1983 Caracas 4x200m Freestyle Bronze 1975 Mexico City 400m Freestyle Bronze 1975 Mexico City 1500m Freestyle Bronze 1975 Mexico City 4x200m Freestyle Bronze 1979 San Juan 200m Freestyle Bronze 1979 San Juan 200m Backstroke Bronze 1979 San Juan 4x100m Freestyle Universiade Gold 1979 Mexico City 400m medley Silver 1979 Mexico City 200m backstroke Silver 1981 Bucharest 400m freestyle Silver 1981 Bucharest 200m backstroke Bronze 1981 Bucharest 200m freestyle Bronze 1981 Bucharest 4x100m freestyle Bronze 1981 Bucharest 4x200m freestyle

Djan Garrido Madruga (born December 7, 1958 in Rio de Janeiro ^[1]) is a former international freestyle swimmer from Brazil.^[2][3]

He has a younger brother named Roger Madruga, who was also a professional swimmer.^[4]

Early life

Djan, at 6 years old, was playing on Copacabana Beach with a colleague, as usual, when nearly drowned. The episode of near drowning caused Dirceu Madruga (Djan Madruga's father) enroll him in swimming school of UFRJ in Urca. The goal was to have more security in leisure activities , but soon a teacher realized that Madruga had suitability for swimming and recommended him to entry in the Botafogo team. In the petiz category, evolved in all styles, stood out in the backstroke and won his first medals.^[5]

At age 11, a stagnation. Opponents have grown before him. Djan had a phase of discouragement, but continued. At age 12, came to play and lose a poll for the South American Championship. The frustration led him to rethink the future and he decided to change clubs.^[5]

In Fluminense, Madruga began to work with the swimming coach Denir de Freitas. Djan loved to train, devoted himself to the distance events and initiated a period of impressive developments.^[5]

International career

1973–76

Djan never got a place for a South American championship category, but at 15 years old won a place in the Brazil squad that competed in the absolute South American Championships, in Medellin, Colombia.^[5]

However, in 1974, made his second international competition. Competed in the Canadian Championship and, following, the U.S. Open, in California. The structure surprised Madruga, since the size of the stands, but mainly the technical level. He returned to Brazil with will to come back, and come back to win.^[5]

In 1975, he did a time of 15:56.20 in III Latin Swimming Cup, at Las Palmas, Spain. Madruga became the first South American to swim the 1500m freestyle under 16 minutes and still reached the index for participation in the Montreal Olympics.^[5]

At 16 years old, he competed at the 1975 World Aquatics Championships in Cali. In the 1500-metre freestyle, Djan was inscribed with the third fastest time among swimmers, however, placed 11th, with a time of 16:30.77, far from his South American record of 15:56.02. He led the race up to 1000 meters, but then got tired and lost power to the finish. The head of the Brazilian delegation, Rubens Dinard, said Djan had "too much responsibility for being written in only one test, and by the time of inscription he had. Moreover, the Brazilians had problems with the training conducted in winter, where the most cooled down, unable to train normally".^[6]

He was at the 1975 Pan American Games, in Mexico City. He won the bronze medal in the 400-metre, 1500-metre and 4×200-metre freestyle.^[7] He also finished 4th in the 200-metre freestyle ^[8]

1976 Summer Olympics

At the 1976 Summer Olympics, in Montreal, Madruga did two finals, finishing fourth place in the 400-metre freestyle (3:57.18) and in the 1500-metre freestyle (15:19.84). On this occasion, became the first Brazilian to beat an Olympic record in swimming, and the first of the World to do less than 4 minutes at 400-metre freestyle in the Olympics. He did 3:59.62 at qualifying heats in the 400-metre freestyle, in Montreal 1976.^[3][9] He broke the South American record in the 400-metre freestyle twice: in the heats, and in the finals. In the 1500-metre freestyle, Madruga improved in 36 seconds his best time, lowering much his South American record.^[5]

1976–80

With the Olympics results, Djan received several offers of scholarship in American universities. He saw this as a spectacular opportunity in several aspects: first, because his father was an engineer in Petrobras, but he was removed from office after the Brazilian military revolution of 1964 and turned into a taxi driver to provide his family. The possibilities were limited, it was difficult to purchase equipment, and his children studied in a public school. Studying at an American university would open up more possibilities for working life ended when the athletic career. Second, according to the logistics of everyday life. In Rio de Janeiro , Djan had to ride buses, and displacements between the club and the college would take precious time either training, study or rest. And finally the training itself. Djan was training alone at Fluminense. In the U.S., he would train with colleagues of the highest level and with a coach who was at the forefront of knowledge in biomechanics and physiology. He chose Indiana University, was attending physical education and train with Doc Counsilman, the same coach of Mark Spitz.^[5]

In 1977, Djan went to Mission Viejo, to train with other renowned U.S. coach - Mark Schubert - and share the pool with the target of his obsession, the Olympic champion and record holder Brian Goodell, whom he wanted to win.^[5]

Participated at the 1978 World Aquatics Championships in West Berlin, where he classified to the 1500-metre freestyle final at 6th place, but at the final, he didn't swam to the end of the race, getting last place. Madruga also finished 9th in the 400-metre freestyle.^[10] Madruga had health problems before the World Championships, not getting a good performance because of it. On occasion, the Brazilian swimmers, going to Berlin, made a stopover in Bordeaux, France, to adapt in time zones and to do a training session with the French national team. Strolling along the coast, Djan was excited by the waves and resolved to surf. But it was raining and cold, and he got a pharyngitis. So he left the 1500-metre freestyle final in the middle, and failed to qualify for the final of the 400-metre freestyle.^[11]

He was at the 1979 Pan American Games, in San Juan. He won three silver medals in the 400-metre, 1500-metre and 4×200-metre freestyle, and three bronzes in the 200-metre freestyle, 200-metre backstroke and 4×100-metre freestyle.^[12] In the 400-metre and 1500-metre freestyle, he lost the gold to the world record holder Brian Goodell. In the 200-metre freestyle and in the relays, he broke the South American record.^[13]

Madruga was at the 1979 Summer Universiade, in Mexico City, where he won the gold medal in the 400-metre individual medley, and the silver medal in the 200-metre backstroke.^[14][15]

At the 1980 U.S. Open, in April 1980, in Austin, Texas, Madruga won the 800-metre freestyle and the 400-metre indivudal medley. He defeated the Olympic champion Brian Goodell in the 400-metre, 800-metre and 1500-metre freestyle, a goal he had set in Montreal 1976. He broke the South American record in the 400-metre freestyle (3:53.91), 800-metre freestyle (7:59.85, second best of all time) and in the 400-metre individual medley (4:25.30). Madruga also had his picture published in Swimming World, the flagship magazine of swimming on the planet. ^[5]

1980 Summer Olympics

Madruga participated in the 1980 Summer Olympics, in Moscow. There he won the bronze medal in the men's 4×200-metre freestyle relay event, alongside Jorge Fernandes, Cyro Delgado, and Marcus Mattioli, with a time of 7:29.30. He also did another two finals, finishing fourth place at 400-metre freestyle (3:54.15), and fifth in the 400-metre individual medley (4:26.81). At the 1500-metre freestyle, don't reached the final.^[3]

The flight from Los Angeles to Moscow, which led Madruga to the Olympics, lasted about 30 hours and came five days before the first race, a very short period of acclimatization to the time zone difference. The first race was the 1500-metre freestyle, and before the heats, Madruga cut his foot. He went to the starting block, disconcentrated by the accident, swam poorly (34 seconds worse than his time at the U.S. Open), and he has not passed the heats. It was a huge blow to him and a shock to the Brazilian fans.^[5]

The next race was the 4x200-metre freestyle relay, the one where, in his assessment, had lower chances of winning a medal, even more by the performance of his colleagues in the 200-metre freestyle. But what happened in the race was amazing: Jorge Fernandes, Cyro Delgado and Marcus Mattioli gave a show of resilience, improving each approximately 2s the time of their individual events, and Djan closed like a champion, holding opponents and leading the team to Olympic podium, winning the bronze medal. The relay's time, 7:29.30, was three seconds better than the heats time, and nine seconds faster than the previous South American record, obtained in Pan American Games in San Juan. This mark stood for 12 years. ^[5]

With a renewed confidence, and with decreased pressure by having already achieved a medal, Madruga classified with the 3rd time for the final of the 400-metre freestyle. In the end, did 3:54.15 and came in 4th place, 20 hundredths behind third placed.^[5]

In the 400-metre individual medley, fell to swim the final in lane 1, passed the backstroke partial in first place, lost ground in breaststroke, could not recover in crawl, marked 4:26.81 and finished in 5th place.^[5]

1981–84

At the 1981 Summer Universiade, held in Bucharest, Madruga won the silver medal in the 400-metre freestyle and in the 200-metre backstroke. He also won bronze medal in the 200-metre freestyle. The 3 Brazilians relays (4×100-metre freestyle, 4×200-metre freestyle, 4×100-metre medley) won bronze too; Djan participated in the 4×100-metre freestyle and 4×200-metre freestyle.^[14]

Participated at the 1982 World Aquatics Championships in Guayaquil, where he finished 7th in the 4×200-metre freestyle final, 10th in the 200-metre backstroke, and 12th in the 400-metre freestyle.^[16] Madruga again had health problems at the World Championships, like 1978.^[11] The conditions were adverse in Ecuador. Ricardo Prado gave a statement to a Brazilian newspaper, telling the situation: "The hotel we stayed at was not well attended. It was directly across the Guayaquil bus station. I managed to reach the final of the 200-metre individual medley, but I was weak because food there was terrible, and finished the race in eighth place." Prado landed at home with gold in the neck and a big mycosis in the belly. Djan Madruga had worse luck: he contracted typhoid.^[17]

He was at the 1983 Pan American Games, in Caracas. He won silver in the 4×100-metre freestyle and in the 4×200-metre freestyle.^[18]

1984 Summer Olympics

Djan reached his third Games at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. He finished 9th in the 4×200-metre freestyle, 10th in the 4×100-metre freestyle, and 12th in the 200-meter backstroke.^[3]

Marks and records

Early prodigy, Djan Madruga was one of the greatest swimmers in the history of Brazil. As of March 1974, with 15-year-old newly made, came to dominate the long distance events on the continent. On August 74, after a contest in Ottawa in Canada, he became the South American record holder in the 400-metre, 800-metre and 1500-metre freestyle. In April 1975, he broke the barrier of 16 minutes in the 1500-metre freestyle at Copa America in Las Palmas. At 16 he was the South American record holder of 200-metre, 400-metre, 800-metre and 1500-metre freestyle. It is the only Brazilian swimmer to hold simultaneous records in all freestyle distances from 100 to 1500-metre, a feat occurred in 1979.^[9][13][15] In addition, he was also the South American record holder in the 200-metre backstroke, 200-metre individual medley and 400-metre individual medley, and Brazilian record holder in the 200-metre butterfly.^[5]

Djan Madruga was the first South American to swim 1500-metre freestyle in under 16 minutes (on 1975), 800-metre freestyle in under 8 minutes (on 1980) and 400-metre freestyle in under 4 minutes (on 1976) ^[15]

He is first Brazilian to beat an Olympic record in swimming, with a time of 3:59.62 at qualifying heats in the 400-metre freestyle, in Montreal 1976.^[3]

In April 1980, training against the USA team, he broke the South American record of the 800-metre freestyle with a time of 7:59.85, being the second swimmer in history to break the barrier of eight minutes. In front of him, only Vladimir Salnikov, the world record holder.^[19] This record unbelievable lasted 29 years, and was only broken by Luiz Arapiraca in 2009, with the use of new technological super-suits (the Jaked). Thus, Djan Madruga issued a challenge, immediately after this: a person who could beat your record without the super swimsuit, would receive a reward of $ 5,000.^[20]

Another of his South American records, the 1500-metre freestyle record, obtained in 1976, only came to be broken almost 20 years later, by Luiz Lima, in 1995.^[21][22]

Djan broke for the last time, the South American record of the 400-metre freestyle on April 1980, training against the USA team, with a time of 3:53.91. This record was equaled by Luiz Lima just 17 years later, in 1997.^[19]

After professional swimming

Djan was also professional triathlete between 1983 and 1987, winning the following titles: twice Brazilian champion at middle distance, runner-up of the U.S. in the Olympic distance, and Champion of the Sendai International Triathlon, in Japan. Also completed the Ironman Hawaii in 1984, where he broke the record of swimming stage (3.8 km), finishing 126th from 1500 competitors. In 1990, he returned to swim, now in the Master category. In it, got 12 world titles, and hit three world records.^[15]

Djan was National Secretary of Sports of the Federal government of Brazil for two years, designated as responsible for the Bolsa-Atleta program. Also participated in the campaign to bring the 2016 Summer Olympics to Rio de Janeiro, assisting in planning and presentations made to the International Olympic Committee.^[23]

He owns a swimming academy in Rio de Janeiro, in the neighborhood of Recreio dos Bandeirantes, built in the 90s.^[24]

References

• Profile at Sports Reference

Persondata
Name	Madruga, Djan
Alternative names
Short description	Swimmer
Date of birth	December 7, 1958
Place of birth	Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Date of death
Place of death