Honoring Abilio Couto On Brazilian Television

Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California. Abilio Alvaro Da Costa Couto (nicknamed Pai das Águas Abertas no Brasil or father of open water swimming in Brazil) was a Brazilian from Ribeirão Preto who was inducted in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame as an Honor Swimmer.

He was awarded the Baron of Sorano, registered in Rome, Italy, by Prince Alexandre Marie de Deolz. It is estimated that Couto swam more than 40,000 km over his career, only a bit shorter than the circumference of the earth around the equator.

In addition to establishing the first Brazil Open Water Championships and many other events including the 25 km Ilhabella-Caraguatatuba race, he completed a crossing of the Strait of Gibraltar and Catalina Channel, four crossings of the English Channel, Lake Michigan, Suez Canal, Nile River, Mar del Plata, Maratona del Golfo Capri-Napoli, and Lake Ontario and many other places including Egypt, Yugoslavia, USA and Canada.

Copyright © 2008 – 2020 by World Open Water Swimming Association