Kornacki: Borges Synonymous with Olympics, Swimming and Brazil
8/3/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming & Diving, Features, Olympics
By Steve Kornacki
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Gustavo Borges swam in an incredible four Olympiads, winning a pair of both silver and bronze medals as a freestyle sprinter, and he even served as a flag bearer for his native Brazil in the 2004 Athens Games.
Now the Olympics are coming home for the University of Michigan Hall of Honor member who was central to the Wolverines' 1995 NCAA championship team and won 10 NCAA event championships over his college career.
Borges, 43, and now a successful businessman and broadcaster living in Sao Paulo, takes great pride in the Games coming to Rio de Janeiro, located some 200 miles to the east of his home.
"I think it is going to be a mix of great atmosphere and a little bit of some manifestations because of the government with our economic and political situations," said Borges. "People are really nervous about the acceptance of people around the country because of political problems. But it's going to be pretty nice, and as the Games approach we are going to see more patience going on with these situations because the Games are a big event.
"Everybody wants great publicity, and in the end it's going to be a great Olympics. In Brazil, I wish we had a little bit better situation outside of sports because it would be better for everybody. But that's what we have, and that's what we have to deal with. But the people who come from all the countries to compete or cheer for their family members are going to have a great time in Rio."
The country's economic recession and political chaos are compounded by Zika virus fears and water contamination concerns, but Borges believes the competition beginning with soccer today (Wednesday, Aug. 3) and running through Aug. 21 will shift the focus to sports and the spirit of competition.
"There is a lot more excitement going on right now outside of the sports rather than inside the sports," Borges said in a phone interview with MGoBlue.com. "It's about politics, health problems and economic problems. But I think we will survive."
Borges has taken part in the Olympic torch relay that has gone on between 350-plus cities and towns in Brazil, and he also played an important role in developing the aquatics center in Rio.
"All the pools involved in the Olympic Games, (18) pools, are something I negotiated with my partner here in Brazil," said Borges of his sponsorship relationship with Myrtha Pools, which also supplies top aquatics centers, hotels and resorts in the U.S.
He owns four health clubs in Brazil, works with a learn-to-swim program, represents four sponsors, sits on several boards as a director, and has a high-profile broadcasting role.
"I also work as a commentator for a Brazilian TV station company," said Borges. "That will be my major role in these Games. It is like the NBC of Brazil."
It was just over a quarter-century ago that Borges competed in his first Olympics in Barcelona, and winning the silver medal in the 100-meter freestyle in 1992 remains his favorite Olympic achievement.
"It was my first Olympics," said Borges, "and the experience of doing that for the first time was something else. After my race, the timing system didn't work for 40 minutes, and I was waiting for the results because the touch pad on my lane didn't work. So, it took 40 minutes for the final results to come about."
Russian Alexander Popov won the gold medal in 49.02 seconds and Borges got the silver with a time of 49.43 seconds, narrowly besting France's Stephan Caron's bronze time of 49.50. American Matt Biondi, winner of eight Olympic gold medals, finished fifth in his third and final Olympiad. Borges had idolized Biondi and then got to compete against him.
Borges was asked about his reaction when the long-delayed results were finally announced.
"Man, that was an incredible mixture of feelings at that moment," he said. "You train so hard, do your best, and something like that happens. So, that was not nice. The story that I tell today is very interesting because you go from being fifth to fourth to second in 40 minutes.
"It was an unbelievable moment to find out that I was second."
Borges credited retired Wolverines swimming head coach Jon Urbanchek -- who like Borges is a member of the International Swimming Hall of Fame -- for his development. He trained for both collegiate and international competitions with Urbanchek.
"It was a real tough experience at first for a guy coming from Brazil to Michigan," said Borges, who studied at The Bolles School in Jacksonville, Florida, for one year prior to coming to Ann Arbor. "But it was an interesting journey because I was ready for something different. I didn't know how big the school was, and once I went to Michigan and saw it, it was unbelievable.
"So, it was a great choice."
What's his top memory from the national championship team?
"We had some great recruiting classes and in '95 everything connected," Borges said of that special senior season. "We had a great group of people and swimmers who became champions. We connected so well. Tom Dolan was on fire in the IM (individual medley) and we did great in the relays. We had great energy.
"Urbanchek did such a great job with that team and all of our teams. Jon was the reason I went to Michigan. He was such a nice guy and could just be himself. Most coaches are about selling, but Jon just sold naturally. It was so funny that everybody who trains with him believes in what he's doing. His greatest quality is the companionship. The friendships that he has with us and being an all-around great professional made him one outstanding guy and coach."
Borges hoists the trophy as the Wolverines celebrate their 1995 NCAA championship
"Gustavo was a real gold mine for us," Urbanchek said earlier this year. "He won the 100-yard freestyle four years in a row at the NCAAs."
Borges was a 10-time NCAA champion with eight individual and two relay wins. He still actively follows the Wolverines swimming and diving, football and men's basketball teams he became fans of as a student. He added that he also "keeps up on the other sports" on the athletic department Twitter account @UMichAthletics.
"I'm now in touch with coach Mike Bottom," said Borges, referring to the Wolverines men's and women's swimming and diving coach. "He was at Auburn or Cal when I was at Michigan, and he was always a good friend. I follow him and all his swimmers, and I send him a message when his swimmers make Olympic teams."
Borges added a silver medal in the 200-meter freestyle and a bronze in the 100-meter freestyle at the 1996 Atlanta Games, where he competed with nine other Wolverines swimmers, including the combo of Dolan and the late Eric Namesnik, who won gold and silver, respectively, in the 400-meter individual medley, and Tom Malchow, the silver medalist in the 200-meter butterfly.
"It was a great year for Michigan," Borges said of the five Olympic medals won by 10 Wolverines.
Borges won his final medal at the 2000 Sydney Games with a bronze on Brazil's 4x100-meter freestyle relay. He competed on that relay team once again in 2004 at Athens, but Brazil finished out of the running for a medal.
Still, he received a special honor following his final competition before retiring at 31. Brazil chose him to carry its flag in the closing ceremonies in Greece.
"It was a big event," said Borges, "and I had never before participated in an opening or closing ceremony. That moment was unbelievable. It was more like my medal for that Olympics because I came out of that Olympics without a medal and had an opportunity to be the flag bearer and go into the stadium with so many great athletes, and it was an interesting moment and a very emotional one to close my Olympic career in the Olympic stadium holding our flag. That was definitely something."
Borges was born in Ribeirao Preto and grew up in Ituverava as a multi-sport athlete.
"I come from a city of about 30,000 people, a small city in the countryside," said Borges. "I also played basketball and volleyball and was always pretty tall. But swimming was the sport I liked the most, and at 13 or 14 I left volleyball, which was the sport I was doing at the same time as swimming.
"But I had a great career for my parents and the people around me, and I just kept going because it was so much fun. I do that with my kids now. The influence my parents had on me is the same influence I try to have on my kids."
Gustavo and wife, Barbara Franco, have a 17-year-old son, Luiz, and a 14-year-old daughter, Gabriella. Both are swimmers, too.
So, aquatics and the Olympics continue for Borges. That seems quite natural for somebody who will forever have his name connected to the sport, his country and Olympiads.
