100 anos de natação Olímpica brasileira: participações, resultados e investimentos financeiros nas últimas décadas

This article aims to present a brief historical review of the participation and results of Brazilian swimming in the Olympic Games over 100 years and to analyze the main financial investments in the modality in the last decades. This is a descriptive study using documental research to obtain data. Data were collected regarding the results obtained by the Brazilian swimming team between Antwerp 1920 and Tokyo 2020. As analysis factors there are the number of swimmers who participated in each Olympic edition, the number of finals, and medals won. As for financial investments, three sources were considered: the sponsorship of Correios, the transfer of funds from federal lotteries through the Law Agnelo/Piva and the Bolsa Atleta. The results indicate that Brazilian swimming is obtaining more consistent sporting results throughout the editions of the Olympic Games, expressed by the increase in the number of athletes who have conquered the spot for the Olympics, also by the finals and medals won. Such progress is certainly linked to the increase in financial investments that the modality has obtained in recent decades. Therefore, it is concluded that swimming in Brazil has been acquiring more sportive maturity and much of this progress can be explained by the increase in its funding. Certainly, there is still a lot of room for evolution in the results of Brazilian swimming at an international level. However, as important as having high investment rates, the efficient management of these resources is also fundamental for the advancement of the sporting results.