Etiene Pires de Medeiros (born 24 May 1991) is a Brazilian competitive swimmer who participates in backstroke and freestyle events. Widely regarded as the best Brazilian woman swimmer of all time, Medeiros was the first Brazilian to win an individual gold medal in a World Championship (long and short course) and Pan American Games, and the first to be a world record-holder in the modern era (only Maria Lenk in 1939 had accomplished this feat)
International career
2008–12
At 17 years old, Etiene Medeiros won the silver medal in the 50-metre backstroke at the 2008 FINA Youth World Swimming Championships in Monterrey.
At the 2009 World Aquatics Championships in Rome, she finished 21st in the 50-metre backstroke.
Medeiros was at the 2010 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) in Dubai, where she finished 17th in the 50-metre backstroke and 30th in the 100-metre backstroke.
She joined the national delegation which attended the 2011 World Aquatics Championships in Shanghai, China, winning the vacancy after the positive doping of Fabiola Molina. Etiene finished 43rd in the 100-metre backstroke with a time of 1:05.18. She also swam the 50-metre backstroke, where she finished 25th and in the 4×100-metre medley, where she finished 17th.
At the 2011 Pan American Games, Etiene finished 10th in the 100-metre backstroke heats and did not go to the final.
She was at the 2012 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) in Istanbul, where she finished 10th in the 50-metre backstroke and 28th in the 100-metre backstroke.
2013–16
In January 2013, she moved to São Paulo and started work with Coach Fernando Vanzella in club SESI-SP. In April 2013, she won the Maria Lenk Trophy in Brazil with a time of 27.88 seconds in the 50-metre backstroke, the best mark of her life and one of the best times of the year in the proof.
At the 2013 World Aquatics Championships in Barcelona, she finished 21st in the 100-metre backstroke. In the 50-metre backstroke, qualified for the final with the fifth fastest time, 27.89 seconds, one hundredth of her personal best. In the final, she finished in 4th place, with a time of 27.83 seconds, her personal best, getting the best placement of a Brazilian woman in the World Championships. She also finished 12th in the 4×100-metre medley, along with Daynara de Paula, Larissa Oliveira and Beatriz Travalon.
At the 2014 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in Gold Coast, Queensland, she finished 5th in the 4x100-metre freestyle relay, along with Graciele Herrmann, Daynara de Paula, and Alessandra Marchioro; 5th in the 4x100-metre medley relay, along with Graciele Herrmann, Ana Carla Carvalho and Daynara de Paula; 6th in the 50-metre freestyle; 7th in the 100-metre butterfly; and 11th in the 100-metre backstroke.
On 3 September 2014, participating in the José Finkel Trophy (short course competition) in Guaratinguetá, Medeiros broke three South American records: in the 50-metre freestyle with a time of 24.15, in the 50-metre backstroke with a time of 26.41, and in the 100-metre backstroke with a time of 57.53.
On 7 December 2014, participating in the 2014 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) in Doha, Qatar, Medeiros broke the world record in the 50-metre backstroke with a time of 25.67. Medeiros was the first woman in Brazil to get an individual medal in World Championships, and the first to win a gold medal. Medeiros won 3 medals in the competition: the gold in the Women's 50 metre backstroke, another gold in the 4 × 50 metre mixed medley relay (along with Felipe França, Nicholas Santos and Larissa Oliveira), and a bronze medal in the 4 × 50 metre mixed freestyle relay (along with Cesar Cielo, João de Lucca, and Larissa Oliveira). On 3 December, in the 4 × 50 metre mixed medley relay, Medeiros opened the final with a time of 25.83. Brazil won the race beating the South American record with a time of 1:37.26, only 0.09 seconds from beating USA's world record (1:37.17). On 6 December, in the 4 × 50 metre mixed freestyle relay, Brazil broke the South American record with a time of 1:29.17, only four hundredths slower than Russia, which won the silver medal. In the 50-metre backstroke, Medeiros broke the Americas' record in the semifinal with a time of 25.99 and the World record in the final with a time of 25.67. Medeiros also broke two times the South American record in the 100 metre backstroke, with a time of 57.36 at heats and 57.13 in the semifinals, finishing in 7th place in the final; and two times in Women's 4 × 50 metre medley relay, with a time of 1:47.20 at heats and 1:46.47 in the final, finishing in 5th place.