Meet Raphael Marinzeck Borborema….
The first of our Swimfluencers for the 2023/24 Season.
Rapha originally hails from Brazil and has now chosen one of the most beautiful places in New Zealand to live….sunny Nelson! You can read about Rapha, his top tips for new swimmers, and why he will Swimfluence you into the water this season.
| How long have you been swimming? | I've been swimming for around 13 years, nine of those as a club swimmer back in Brazil. |
| Why do you swim? | Swimming has been my passion since the early days of training. Not being good at group sports at the time helped to fall in love with it. It assisted me in being disciplined at school and making friends for life; the greatest people I met were within the swimming circles I've been part of. |
| What’s your favourite event in the series & why? | La Grande Swim in Akaroa. It was my first and only race in the NZ Ocean Swim in the 2021/22 series, and it will always be special to me. That race reminded me how much I love being a swimmer, and I realised how much I enjoyed Ocean Swim; it was the extra boost I needed to start training for the next season. |
| What do you hope to achieve by becoming a Swimfluencer? | I want to use the platform to raise awareness for the good impact that a sport can do on your mental health. Swimming and Ocean Swim helped me through the toughest time I had, and I want to use this to help other people going through similar experiences. |
| If you had ONE PIECE of advice for a new ocean swimmer - what would it be? | Consistency is the key to success in Open water. Set your goal, try to be realistic to your level and stick to your plan. Like in life, you will also have ups and downs in ocean swimming but do not give up. Remember, you are your own biggest competitor but also your biggest supporter. An extra tip is to join a squad; you will improve your fitness while meeting like-minded people. |
