Rafael Mósca | |
Full Name: | Rafael Motta Bacêllo Mósca |
Birth Date: | 1982 5, df=yes |
Birth Place: | Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
Height: | 1.82 m |
Weight: | 80 kg |
Strokes: | Freestyle |
Rafael Motta Bacêllo Mósca (born 13 May 1982, in Rio de Janeiro) is a freestyle swimmer from Brazil.[1]
Trying to prevent some respiratory problem, Mósca began to practice swimming. His mother enrolled him in a swim school at two years of age. At 11, a disease in kidney removed him from swimming pools, for a year and a half. Recovered, returned to swim at Flamengo. The first good results of Rafael appeared, and he began to consider the possibility of a career as a professional athlete.[2]
At 19 years old, he broke the 10-year hegemony of Gustavo Borges in the 200-metre freestyle, at the 2002 Jose Finkel Trophy (Brazilian Short Course Championship). Gustavo won the gold medal since 1992.[3]
Mósca swam at the 2002 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, where he finished 4th in the 4×100-metre freestyle, 5th in the 4×200-metre freestyle, and 14th in the 200-metre freestyle.[4]
At the 2003 World Aquatics Championships, in Barcelona, Mósca finished 33rd in the 200-metre freestyle [5] and 9th in the 4×200-metre freestyle.[6]
He won the silver medal with the men's relay team in the 4×200-metre freestyle at the 2003 Pan American Games in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. His winning teammates were Carlos Jayme, Gustavo Borges, and Rodrigo Castro.[7] He also finished 7th in the 200-metre freestyle.[8]
Mósca also represented his native country at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. In which he achieved 9th place also with the men's relay team in the 4×200-metre freestyle, now with Bruno Bonfim, Carlos Jayme and Rodrigo Castro. At this race, he broke the South American record, with a time of 7:22.70.[9]
At the 2004 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) in Indianapolis, Mósca won the bronze medal in the 4×200-metre freestyle, along with Rodrigo Castro, Thiago Pereira and Lucas Salatta,[10] beating the South American record, with a time of 7:06.64.[11] He also finished 19th in the 200-metre freestyle.[12]