Brazilian Olympic Medalist Fernando Scheffer at Peace with Decision to Retire; Eager for Next Chapter
On August 30, Brazilian swimmer Fernando Scheffer announced his retirement from competitive swimming on social media. A bronze medalist in the men’s 200-meter freestyle at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, Scheffer made his mark on Brazilian swimming history as one of just nine Brazilians to win an individual Olympic medal in the sport. Now, at 28 years old, he leaves behind a career highlighted by his Olympic achievement and looks ahead to a new chapter beyond competitive swimming.
In an exclusive interview with Swimming World, Scheffer reflects on the decision to retire, the defining moments of his career, and the lessons he hopes to carry into the next chapter of his journey.
Swimming World: What ultimately led you to the decision to retire from competitive swimming, and how did you know it was the right time?
Fernando Scheffer: I believe it was a combination of factors that led me to make this decision. When I was younger, I used to see great athletes retire due to injuries or dissatisfaction with their results, which caused them a lot of distress. I always wanted my experience to be different. I wanted to reach a point where I could feel at peace and proud of myself, my results, and my achievements.
I believe I reached that point while preparing for the Paris Olympics. It was a difficult cycle for me, and the results were below my expectations. At that moment, I realized that competitive swimming might no longer be the right place for me and that the sport was becoming a source of distress.
It took me a couple of years to actually make the decision because, as I mentioned before, I wanted to leave feeling at peace with myself and my accomplishments. Now, two years later, I can look back with pride and recognize that I have completed my journey in the way I wanted to.
Swimming World: When you look back on your career, is there one moment that stands out as the most meaningful to you? Why?
Fernando Scheffer. Photo Courtesy: MIKE LEWIS / ISL
Fernando Scheffer: Winning an Olympic medal is definitely one of those moments. I believe an Olympic medal is one of the greatest achievements an athlete can accomplish. People all over the world dream of winning one.
However, I also want to emphasize that although swimming is an individual sport, achieving results is a team effort. It’s really interesting to see how much of a difference that makes and how much easier it becomes to perform when you have a team cheering you on, coaches who share your dreams, and people who push you to be better. It makes everything feel lighter, and the quality of the work improves.
I’m not sure if I can point to a single moment, or if it was a combination of moments throughout my career, but being able to share these experiences and dreams with others had a huge impact on me.
Swimming World: What is the biggest lesson swimming has taught you, both as an athlete and as a person?
Fernando Scheffer: I’ve learned a lot of things. The first is that we can’t get anywhere on our own; we need other people. No one in history has achieved incredible things entirely by themselves.
The second is that the environment we’re in is probably one of the biggest factors influencing our decisions. If we’re surrounded by good people and part of a good team, that will absolutely help us make better decisions.
The third is that our lives change when we start trusting ourselves more, not just in sports but in everything we do. When we act with confidence and believe that we’re capable and deserve to be where we are, it changes how things unfold for us.
Lastly, opportunities come to everyone, perhaps to different degrees, but they do come. It’s up to us to be ready to recognize them and seize them at the right time.
Swimming World: What is something about your career or the life of a professional swimmer that people might not fully understand when they only see the results and medals?
Fernando Scheffer: The price we pay for being a competitive athlete. In high-performance sports, we’re constantly searching for that detail that might seem insignificant to others. It’s like a drop of water in the ocean, but for us, it makes all the difference.
A good example is the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. I qualified for the final in eighth place by just .11, and I won the bronze medal by .07. If you think about it, the swimmer who finished ninth also could have had a chance to win a medal, but he didn’t even qualify for the final.
So, how exactly do you train to gain those .07? How do you measure that? That’s where I think we, as professional athletes, develop an ambition that can become unhealthy, because we live for those tiny differences. I’m sure there are athletes around the world doing incredible things right now, and if I’m going to compete against them, I need to be doing something just as incredible.
That means we have to give things up and say no to a lot. This invisible price is something people don’t see or understand.
Swimming World: If you could go back to the beginning of your career, is there anything you would do differently?
Fernando Scheffer: Sometimes I reflect on the “what ifs,” but those what-ifs don’t really exist. I believe I made the right choices based on the information I had at the time and what I thought was right.
Honestly, I wouldn’t change anything, because everything played an important role in getting me to where I am today and shaping the person I’ve become. I was really happy throughout this journey, met incredible people, and developed a deep sense of love and peace with the sport. I’m now able to leave it with the same feeling I had when I started.
Swimming World: What does this next chapter look like for you, and do you see yourself remaining involved in swimming in some capacity?
Photo Courtesy: MIKE LEWIS / ISL
Fernando Scheffer: To be completely honest, I’m not quite sure yet. This was probably one of the things that kept me going after I first started thinking about retiring around the Paris 2024 Olympics. I kept asking myself, “What am I good at? What else do I know how to do besides swimming?” I became quite anxious, so I decided to keep swimming and give myself more time to think about it.
Two years later, that clarity still hadn’t come, but some things had become clearer in my mind. First, I love sports in general, especially swimming, and I want to continue contributing to Brazilian swimming. It makes me really sad to see the current state of the sport in Brazil, and I want to find a way to contribute.
Two things have become particularly clear to me. First, we need to create more opportunities for people to practice and compete in swimming. We also need to help those who are already involved in the sport believe that it is possible to dream big and achieve their goals, especially without having to leave the country.
I believe that is my mission: to contribute to my country and to the sport I love so much, now from the other side of the pool.
Swimming World: What advice would you give to young swimmers who are working toward their dreams?
Fernando Scheffer: Learn to have fun with what you do, because if it starts to feel like an obligation, it’s not going to work in the long run. You might achieve some results for a while, but you won’t be able to sustain that progress for as long as you otherwise could.
We know that dedicating your life to a sport is really hard. We have to give up a lot of things, and there’s a high price to pay. So, if you can fall in love with what you’re doing and enjoy the journey, regardless of your results or performance, you’ll be able to go far. You’ll also increase your chances of standing out, learning from your mistakes, and continuing to improve.
The best thing you can do is not rush to achieve a result, win a medal, or become the best. Instead, focus on having fun and enjoying what you do. If you do that, you give yourself the best chance of succeeding.