Student Wins Rowing Medals in South American Competition

Daniel Passold Filho, a student at Blumenau Adventist School, won a silver and two bronze medals as part of the Brazilian national rowing team competing at the South American Rowing Tournament in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, in late March 2022. Passold Filho won the silver medal in the Junior category in coxless pair, one bronze in the coxless four, and another bronze in the octuple scull.

Passold Filho said that since he was a child, he felt encouraged by his family to take up sports. “I took judo and swimming lessons at an early age, and at nine I began to take rowing lessons,” he said. Now at 17, Passold Filho focuses on daily rowing training, and he also spends one day a week in other sports such as bodybuilding and cycling. He is a member of Clube Náutico América, one of the oldest rowing organizations in Brazil.

Every time he is close to the date of a competition, Passold Filho said, he increases the pace of his training. “I go rowing before and after classes,” he said. He usually trains at the Itajaí-Acú River in his native city of Blumenau. It is not a smooth process, Passold Filho reported, as his regular training is often interrupted during annual weeks of heavy rains. On those days, rowing becomes a dangerous enterprise, as large tree branches end up floating in the river and could cause life-threatening accidents.  

The South American Rowing Tournament marked the first time Passold Filho participated in a competition at the international level. His next goal is to be selected as part of the Brazilian team for the Rowing World Cup, which will take place in Italy in June 2022. To make it to the team, Passold Filho must first participate in several qualifying events, he said.

In addition to the support of his family, his friends, and his coaches, Passold Filho has enlisted the encouragement of the employees of Blumenau Adventist School. During pre-competition training and during competitions, Passold Filho’s teachers make all school requirements available on the online E-class platform so he can keep up to date in his studies.

“Seventh-day Adventist education believes in the wholistic development of our students,” Blumenau Adventist School chaplain Darlan Silva said. “Sports is one of the ways that support this development, and every achievement of our students is a great joy for our institution.”

The original version of this story was posted on the South American Division Portuguese-language news site.