A Special Thanks to Deep Blue Media for providing the images from this meet World Championships, Day Two Finals: Age No Barrier For Nicholas Santos, Who Strikes 50 Fly Gold at 42 Years Young In His Final Race Ageless Brazilian Nicholas Santos, swimming in his 10th World Swimming Championships, has delivered one of the fairy tale stories of the Short Course World Championships with a stunning gold medal swim at 42 years of age – in his last ever race. The powerhouse from Brazil barnstormed his way to his fourth World Short Course gold in the 50m butterfly – in a new Championship Record time of 21.78 and also announced his retirement on a 25-year career. “This is my last one, my last world championships,” Santos told Channel 9 after his gold medal presentation. “For me this was amazing, my fourth world championship gold….and I felt really good, especially in this final and the second 25m was amazing and it was pretty close in the end..the boys are getting fast…” Remarkably only 0.03 secs outside the world record he shares with bronze medallist, Hungary’s Szebasztian Szabo. Santos, who first swam at a World LC Championships in Fukuoka in 2021, first won this event at a World SC Championships in Istanbul in 2012, then in Hangzhou in 2018 and Abu Dhabi in 2021, as well as silver in 2014. Taking silver tonight was Switzerland’s Noe Ponti (21.96) with Szabo just a touch behind in 21.98 for bronze. But it is Santos who has captured the imagination of the media and the crowd in Melbourne – lighting up a freezing night in the Victorian capital. Santos swept up a wave of celebration, creating a huge splash when he saw his name flash up next to No 1 on the scoreboard. And his number one fan, Australian swimming legend Ian Thorpe, in commentary for Host Broadcaster Channel 9, said on pool deck that of all the gold medals over the past two nights – and there have now been five gold by Australians – this win by Santos is far and away his favourite moment. And Thorpie, who turned 40 himself in October, can relate to just how good the Santos gold medal truly was. Life may begin at 40…but for Nicholas Santos it just got a whole lot better at 42! And the Santos secret? “I’ve been doing this for 25 years so it is repetition..repetition…and resilience as well, competing around the world is really good…and you get pushed all the time…these kids are swimming so fast now,” said Santos, who may well have created a swimming record that will last a lifetime.
