Bruno Fratus
Born June 30, 1989 in Rio de Janeiro Bruno Fratus is a professional swimmer from Brazil. Fratus is a sprint freestyle specialist, and is a 2012 London Olympian and will represent Brazil in front of a home crowd at the Rio Olympics.
Team Arena
Fratus signed with Arena in April 2015 – the company has been a brand favorite among the world’s most elite sprinters, and Fratus has chosen to wear Arena in his run for Rio. Standing 6’2″ Fratus has been a monster on the sprint freestyle scene since 2010, when he finished fourth overall at his first Pan Pacific Championships in Irvine, Calif.
Breakout to the swimming scene
Breaking onto the international scene, Fratus finished fourth in the 50m freestyle at the 2010 Pan Pacific Championships in Irvine. He also swam the 100m freestyle, finishing 25th overall.
In 2011 at the World Championships in Shanghai, Fratus finished fifth in the 50m freestyle, coming in under 22 seconds. In the same year he won three medals at the Pan American Games in Guadalajara, including a gold on the 400m freestyle and medley relays and silver in the 50 free.
2012 Olympics (London, England)
Just two years after his first international competition, Fratus qualified for the 2012 London Olympics. He competed in the 50-meter freestyle and finished fourth overall just .02 seconds behind fellow Brazilian, Cesar Cielo. Fratus also brought back his first Olympic medal when he won a bronze in the 400-meter freestyle relay.
Shoulder injury
Throughout his early career Fratus had been dealing with a shoulder injury. His injury required surgery, where he repaired ligament damage in the gleno humeral capsule. After recovering from surgery, Fratus had a great comeback year in 2014.
2014 Pan Pacific Championships (Gold Coast, Australia)
At the 2014 Pan Pacific Championships Fratus won gold in the 50-meter freestyle, breaking the championship record at 21.44. He also earned bronze as a member of the 400m freestyle relay. At the 2015 Brazilian Championships, Fratus won the national title in the 50m freestyle, securing his spot on the 2015 FINA World Championship roster.
2015 World Championships (Kazan, Russia)
At the 2015 World Championships in Kazan Fratus had his first medal-winning performance. In the 50-meter long course free Fratus entered the championship final in third place behind the USA’s Nathan Adrian and France’s Florent Manaudou. In the final he dropped .04 seconds (21.55), which was good enough to hold off Vladimir Morozov by .01 second for a bronze medal. Fratus also had the third leg on the 4×100-meter free relay, which finished fourth overall — his split was actually Brazil’s fastest on the relay (48.08).
2015 Pan American Games (Toronto, Canada)
At the 2015 Pan Ams, Fratus defended his silver medal in the 50 free, touching for 2nd at 21.91. He also won a gold medal as part of the 4×100 free relay.
2016 Olympics (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
Fratus qualified to swim the 50 meter freestyle at his home Olympics after taking gold in the event at the Maria Lenk Trophy.
The Olympic Aquatic Center came alive with the crowd cheering on their Brazilian swimmer in the 50 meter freestyle, where Fratus finished 6th in 21.79.
2017 World Championships (Budapest, Hungary)
Fratus began his World Championship campaign with a silver medal in the 400 meter freestyle relay. He anchored the Brazilian team with a 47.18 to touch second behind the USA.
Day seven in the men’s 50m freestyle final Fratus won silver with a 21.27, a new personal best time.
2019 World Championships (Gwangju, South Korea)
After undergoing shoulder surgery, Fratus came back after missing the Pan Pacs to defend his silver medal in the 50 free. He successfully did, touching the wall and tying with Greek Kristian Gkolomeev in a time of 21.45.
2019 Pan American Games (Lima, Peru)
After World Champs, Fratus continued his comeback campaign in Lima, winning 2 gold medals at the Pan American Games. He touched 1st in the 50 free at 21.61 and helped Brazil win gold in the 4×100 free relay.
2019 Swammy Awards
For his medal haul at both World Championships and Pan American Games, Fratus earned the South American Swimmer of the Year Swammy Award.
2020 Olympic Games
In his lone event at his 3rd Olympic Games, Bruno Fratus won his first Olympic medal, touching 3rd for bronze in 21.57.
