View source for Tetsuo Okamoto


{{Short description|Brazilian swimmer (1932–2007)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2021}}
{{Infobox swimmer
| name = Tetsuo Okamoto
| image = Shiro Hashizume, Ford Konno, Tetsuo Okamoto 1952b.jpg
| image_size = 
| alt = 
| caption = Okamoto (right) at the 1952 Olympics
| full_name = <!-- if different -->
| nicknames = 
| national_team = {{BRA}}
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1932|3|20}}
| birth_place = [[Marília]], [[São Paulo (state)|São Paulo]], Brazil
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|2007|10|1|1932|3|20}} <!-- Local time /-->
| death_place = Marília, São Paulo, Brazil
| height = 
| strokes = [[Freestyle swimming|Freestyle]]
| club = 
| collegeteam =
| weight = 
| medaltemplates = 
{{MedalSport|Men's swimming}}
{{MedalCountry|Brazil}}
{{MedalCompetition|[[Olympic Games]]}}
{{MedalBronze| [[1952 Summer Olympics|1952 Helsinki]] | [[Swimming at the 1952 Summer Olympics - Men's 1500 metre freestyle|1500 m freestyle]]}}
{{MedalCompetition|[[Pan American Games]]}}
{{MedalGold | [[1951 Pan American Games|1951 Buenos Aires]] | [[Swimming at the 1951 Pan American Games|400 m freestyle]]}}
{{MedalGold | [[1951 Pan American Games|1951 Buenos Aires]] | [[Swimming at the 1951 Pan American Games|1500 m freestyle]]}}
{{MedalSilver | [[1951 Pan American Games|1951 Buenos Aires]] | [[Swimming at the 1951 Pan American Games|4 x 200 m freestyle]]}}
}}

'''Tetsuo Okamoto''' (20 March 1932 – 1 October 2007) was a Brazilian [[Olympic Games|Olympic]] swimmer.<ref name="Sports-Reference">{{cite Sports-Reference |title=Tetsuo Okamoto |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ok/tetsuo-okamoto-1.html |access-date=9 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200417165403/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ok/tetsuo-okamoto-1.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=17 April 2020}}</ref>

==Early life==
Okamoto had asthma, and began to swim to treat it at 7 years old. However, it was only when he was 15 years old, and the coach Fausto Alonso arrived to form a serious team in Yara Clube in Marília, that Tetsuo began to train in a good pool under the guidance of someone with knowledge of swimming. At that time, his training was only 2000 metres daily. 
==Career==
By early 1949, aged 17, Tetsuo had climbed several positions in the Brazilian national ranking, and entered the South American Championship in [[Montevideo]], his first international competition. There, he swam the three long-distance races, reaching the finals of the 400-metre and 1500-metre freestyle. However, an event at the turn of the decade was a watershed in his swimming career.<ref name="The unforgettable Tetsuo - Part I">{{cite web |title=The unforgettable Tetsuo - Part I |work=Best Swimming |date=28 March 2008 |url=http://www.bestswimming.com.br/conteudo.php?i=8287 |accessdate=9 April 2013 |language=pt}}</ref>

In 1949, a Japanese team (the 'Flying Fish') toured Brazil, and competed in Marília with excellent results, including victories over the Americans. Okamoto was fascinated with these swimmers and received the following advice: "if you want to have good results, you must train a lot more: 10,000 metres daily". Thus, his training changed drastically. Although the pool was unheated and he did not have goggles, Okamoto faced the cold and came out with eyes stinging with the chlorine, but carried out this routine.<ref name="Folha de S.Paulo">{{cite web |title=Dies at age 75, pioneer of swimming |work=Folha de S.Paulo |date=3 October 2007 |url=http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/fsp/esporte/fk0310200718.htm |accessdate=9 April 2013 |language=pt}}</ref>

At the Brazilian Championship in 1950, he became champion for the first time, and his popularity and recognition began to grow. In January 1951, he became the South American record holder for the first time. He swam the 1500-metre freestyle in 19:24.3, breaking the Brazilian record by 40 seconds and the South American record by 13 seconds.<ref name="The unforgettable Tetsuo - Part I"/>

At the inaugural [[Pan American Games]] in [[Swimming at the 1951 Pan American Games|1951]], in [[Buenos Aires]], [[Argentina]], he claimed two gold medals in the 400-metre and 1500-metre freestyle, and one silver medal in the 4×200-metre freestyle.<ref>{{cite web |title=Brazil medals at 1951 Pan |work=UOL |year=2007 |url=http://pan.uol.com.br/pan/2007/historia/1951/nopodio.jhtm |accessdate=9 April 2013 |language=pt}}</ref> In the 1500-metre freestyle, he broke his own South American record.<ref name="The unforgettable Tetsuo - Part I"/>

When he returned from Buenos Aires to Brazil, Okamoto received a big party in his hometown, [[Marília]]. There was a procession in an open car, and awards to the new Brazilian hero. At the same time, however, thieves robbed his house, taking several belongings.<ref name="esporte.uol.com.br">{{cite web |title=First Brazilian gold in Pan American dies in Marilia |work=UOL |date=2 October 2007 |url=http://esporte.uol.com.br/natacao/ultimas/2007/10/02/ult77u1808.jhtm |accessdate=9 April 2013 |language=pt}}</ref>

Three weeks after the Pan, he broke the South American record for 400-metre freestyle with 4:41.5, which had never before been in the hands of a Brazilian.<ref name="The unforgettable Tetsuo - Part II">{{cite web |title=The unforgettable Tetsuo - Part II |work=Best Swimming |date=5 April 2008 |url=http://www.bestswimming.com.br/conteudo.php?i=8360 |accessdate=9 April 2013 |language=pt}}</ref>

At the South American Championship in [[Lima]], [[Peru]], in March 1952, Tetsuo won the gold medal in the 400-metre, 800-metre and 1500-metre freestyle.<ref name="The unforgettable Tetsuo - Part II"/>

He was a bronze medalist at the [[1952 Summer Olympics]] in [[Helsinki]] (1500-metre freestyle), the first Brazilian swimmer to win a medal at the Olympics.<ref name="Sports-Reference" /> Tetsuo won his heat with a time of 19:05.6, another new South American record and in the final won the bronze medal with a further South American record of 18:51.3 that would last ten years.<ref name="The unforgettable Tetsuo - Part II"/>
==After swimming==
After leaving swimming, Okamoto moved to the [[United States]] for several years, where he studied geology and business administration and started a company drilling artesian wells.<ref>{{cite web |title=What happened to? |work=Terceiro Tempo |year=2013 |url=http://terceirotempo.bol.uol.com.br/quefimlevou/qfl/sobre/tetsuo-okamoto-3305.html |accessdate=9 April 2013 |language=pt}}</ref>

He died in his city of birth, [[Marília]], on 1 October 2007, due to [[heart failure|heart]] and [[respiratory]] failure, caused by long-standing [[kidney]] problems which forced him to have frequent [[hemodialysis]] in the last years of his life.<ref name="Folha de S.Paulo"/><ref>{{cite web |title=Dies the 1st Brazilian swimmer medalist in the Pan American |work=Terra |date=2 October 2007 |url=http://esportes.terra.com.br/esportesaquaticos/noticias/0,,OI1956939-EI15529,00-Morre+nadador+brasileiro+medalhista+em+PanAmericanos.html |accessdate=9 April 2013 |language=pt}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Dies swimmer who won the 1st medal at the Pan for Brazil |work=Estadão |date=2 October 2007 |url=http://www.estadao.com.br/noticias/esportes,morre-nadador-que-conquistou-1-medalha-do-brasil-no-pan,59354,0.htm |accessdate=9 April 2013 |language=pt}}</ref><ref name="esporte.uol.com.br"/>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Tetsuo Okamoto}}
* {{World Aquatics}}
* {{Olympedia}}
* {{Olympics.com|tetsuo-okamoto}}
* {{BOC profile}}
* {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040806074345/http://www.cob.org.br/atenas2004/downloads/Introducao.pdf |title=''Brazilian Olympic Committee'' Athens 2004 Olympic Games, Brazilian Team Media Guide, page 40}}
* [http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90779/6276311.html ''People's Daily'' obituary]

{{Footer Pan American Champions 400 m Freestyle Men}}
{{Footer Pan American Champions 1500 m Freestyle Men}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Okamoto, Tetsuo}}
[[Category:1932 births]]
[[Category:2007 deaths]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Marília]]
[[Category:Swimmers from São Paulo (state)]]
[[Category:Brazilian male freestyle swimmers]]
[[Category:Texas A&M Aggies men's swimmers]]
[[Category:Brazilian expatriate swimmers in the United States]]
[[Category:Swimmers at the 1951 Pan American Games]]
[[Category:Swimmers at the 1952 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Olympic swimmers for Brazil]]
[[Category:Olympic bronze medalists for Brazil]]
[[Category:Brazilian sportspeople of Japanese descent]]
[[Category:Deaths from kidney failure in Brazil]]
[[Category:Olympic bronze medalists in swimming]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1952 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Pan American Games gold medalists for Brazil]]
[[Category:Pan American Games silver medalists for Brazil]]
[[Category:Pan American Games swimmers for Brazil]]
[[Category:Pan American Games gold medalists in swimming]]
[[Category:Pan American Games silver medalists in swimming]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1951 Pan American Games]]
[[Category:20th-century Brazilian sportsmen]]