Guilherme Guido is a Brazilian backstroke specialist and has been a staple on their national team for over a decade. He holds or has held multiple Brazilian, South American and a World record. Just after swimming in his second Olympic Games in 2016, Guido announced he would be running for city council in his hometown of Limeira. He said that after 15 years of being a professional athlete he wanted to give back to the community that had supported him for all that time. He stated his primary goal was to improve the lives of the citizens through sport.
International Career
Guido made his first major international debut at 17-years-old at the 2004 World Short Course Championships. He helped the Brazilian team to a 4th place finish in the 4×100 meter medley relay and a new South American record. Two years later at the South American Games, he won a silver and bronze medal in the 200 and 100 meter backstroke.
2008 Olympic Games (Beijing, China)
Guido made his Olympic debut in Beijing where he finished 14th in the 4×100 meter medley relay and 20th in the 100 meter backstroke.
2009 World Championships (Rome, Italy)
In Rome, Guido helped the Brazilian team to a 4th place finish in the 4×100 meter medley relay. It was a stacked field and the top four teams all dipped below the World Record that was set by USA at the Olympics Games the year before. He also swam the 50 and 100 meter backstroke.
2010 season
2010 was a busy year for Guido. He started of at the South American Championships where he won a trio of golds in the 50 and 100 meter backstroke and the 4×100 meter medley relay. He then went on to the Pan Pacific Championships where he finished 4th int he 4×100 meter medley relay and finished 8th in the 50 and 100 meter backstroke. He finished of the year at the World Short Course championships, winning a bronze medal in the 4×100 meter medley relay and breaking the South American record and finished 6th and 8th in the 50 and 100 meter backstroke.
2011 World Championships (Shanghai, China)
Guido finished 19th in the 50 meter backstroke, 27th in the 200 meter backstroke and 14th in the 4×100 meter backstroke relay and Shanghai. He went on the the Pan Pacific Championships that summer where he won a gold medal in the 4×100 meter medley relay and a bronze in the 100 meter backstroke.
2012 World Short Course Championships (Istanbul, Turkey)
Guido finished with a bronze medal in the 100 meter backstroke and just finished off the podium with 4th places in the 50 meter backstroke and 4×100 meter medley relay.
2014 World Short Course Championships (Doha, Qatar)
Guido joined Felipe França Silva, Nicholas Santos and César Cielo, in the 4×50 SC meter medley relay and the Brazilian’s combined in 1:30.51 to take the gold and shatter the World Record. He also won a gold as a member of the 4×100 meter medley relay and finished 5th in the 100 meter backstroke and 9th in the 50 meter backstroke.
2015 World Championships (Kazan, Russia)
Just after winning a gold and silver medal in the 4×100 meter medley relay and 100 meter backstroke at the Pan American Games, Guido flew to Kazan for the World Championships. He finished 14th in the 100 meter backstroke but was well off the South American record of 53.12 he posted days early at the Pan American Games. In the 4×100 meter medley relay he lead off for the Brazilian team that finished 10th.
2016 Olympic Games (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
At his home Olympics, Guide finished 6th in the 4×100 meter medley relay and 14th in the 100 meter backstroke.
2017 World Championships (Budapest, Hungary)
At 30 years old, Guido made his first individual final at the World Championships in the 100 meter backstroke where he finished 7th in 53.66. He also made the final in the 4×100 meter medley relay where Brazil finished 5th. In the 50 meter backstroke Guido finished 12th.
2018 World Short Course Championships (Hangzhou, China)
In Hangzhou, Guido helped Brazil to another medal in the 4×50 medley relay, this time a bronze. Individually, he also placed 5th in both the 50 and 100 backstroke, with a new personal best of 49.45 coming in semi finals of the 100.
2019 World Championships (Gwangju, South Korea)
In Gwangju, Guido broke the Brazilian and South American records in the 100 back, clocking 52.95 in prelims to mark his 1st time under the 53 second barrier. He finished 7th in the final. Guido also swam a lifetime best in the 50 back, clocking 24.87 in the semi finals to finish 9th overall.
2019 Pan American Games (Lima, Peru)
In Lima, Guido defended his silver medal in the 100 back, touching just .04 behind USA’s Daniel Carr to finish 2nd in the event. He also helped Brazil to a silver medal in the 4×100 medley relay with a lead off of 53.70.
