Fernando Scherer

{{Infobox swimmer

| name = Fernando Scherer

| image = Fernando Scherer crop.jpg

| image_size =

| alt =

| caption = Scherer in 2006

| full_name = Fernando de Queiroz Scherer

| nicknames = "Xuxa"

| nationality = {{BRA}}ian

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1974|10|6}}

| birth_place = Florianópolis, SC, Brazil

| death_date =

| death_place =

| height = {{convert|1.93|m|ftin|abbr=on}}

| weight = {{convert|85|kg|lb}}

| strokes = Freestyle

| club = Pinheiros/Flamengo

| coach =

| collegeteam =

| show-medals = yes

| medaltemplates =

{{MedalCountry | {{BRA}}}}

{{MedalBronze | {{GamesName|SOG|1996|Swimming}} | 50 m freestyle}}

{{MedalBronze | {{GamesName|SOG|2000|Swimming}} | {{nowrap|4×100 m freestyle}}}}

{{MedalGold | {{nowrap|2003 Santo Domingo}} | 50 m freestyle}}

}}

Fernando de Queiroz Scherer (born October 6, 1974) is a Brazilian former international swimmer. He won the bronze medal in the 50-meter freestyle at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta and another bronze medal four years later in Sydney with the Brazilian relay team in the 4×100-meter freestyle.{{cite Sports-Reference |title=Xuxa Scherer |quote=Full name: Fernando "Xuxa" de Queiroz Scherer}}

Scherer won his first major title at the inaugural 1993 FINA Short Course World Championships in Palma de Mallorca, where he won the 100-meter freestyle. He trained at The Race Club, a swimming club founded by Olympic swimmers Gary Hall, Jr. and his father, Gary Hall, Sr. as a training group for elite swimmers in preparation for the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games.{{cite web |url=http://www.theraceclub.net/mission-statement/history/world-team/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724110324/http://www.theraceclub.net/mission-statement/history/world-team/ |archive-date=July 24, 2011 |title=The World Team - The Race Club}}

Scherer is nicknamed Xuxa in his native country, and he became Brazil's Sportsman of The Year in 1995 after winning one gold and one silver medal at the 1995 FINA Short Course World Championships in Rio de Janeiro. Scherer was involved in the organization Cansei. In 2009, he took part in the second season of a reality television program called A Fazenda, where one of his fellow contestants was his future wife, the actress and dancer Sheila Mello. Scherer and Mello married on June 24, 2010, in São Paulo.{{Cite web |url=http://entretenimento.r7.com/famosos-e-tv/noticias/sheila-mello-se-casa-com-xuxa-e-proibe-entrada-da-imprensa-20100624.html |title=Sheila Mello e Fernando Scherer, o Xuxa, proíbem entrada da imprensa no casamento deles - Famosos e TV - R7 |access-date=June 28, 2010 |archive-date=June 28, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100628140928/http://entretenimento.r7.com/famosos-e-tv/noticias/sheila-mello-se-casa-com-xuxa-e-proibe-entrada-da-imprensa-20100624.html |url-status=dead }}{{cite web |url=http://www.cadaminuto.com.br/index.php/noticia/2010/06/25/casamento-sheila-mello-diz-sim-a-fernando-scherer-em-sao-paulo |title=Gente: Casamento: Sheila Mello diz 'sim' a Fernando Scherer, em São Paulo |access-date=2010-06-28 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100629135822/http://www.cadaminuto.com.br/index.php/noticia/2010/06/25/casamento-sheila-mello-diz-sim-a-fernando-scherer-em-sao-paulo |archive-date=June 29, 2010 |df=mdy-all}}

Beginning

Scherer began swimming when he was a child to help improve his respiratory problems. When he was 14, he participated in his first competitions and trained at the Doze de Agosto club. In 1992, he began to achieve national prominence, winning the 50-meter freestyle and 100-meter freestyle in the Brazil Trophy. That day, his friends created a nickname "Xuxa", by which Scherer became widely known because his blond hair resembled that of a children's television presenter with the same name.{{cite web |title=Scherer Profile |work=Fernando Scherer-Official Site |year=2012 |url=http://fernandoscherer.com.br/site/detalhes.php?tipo=perfil |access-date=April 8, 2013 |language=pt}}{{dead link|date=September 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

International career

= 1993 =

At the Brazilian short course championship, the Jose Finkel Trophy in Santos on July 7, 1993, the Brazilian team comprising Fernando Scherer, Teófilo Ferreira, José Carlos Souza and Gustavo Borges, broke the world record in the 4×100-meter freestyle with a time of 3:13.97{{mdash}}three centiseconds better than the Swedish team record of 3:14.00 from March 19, 1989. On December 5, Brazil again broke the world record, with the same team, with a time of 3:12.11.{{cite web |title=Gustavo Borges' History |work=Gustavo Borges-Official Site |year=2012 |url=http://www.gustavoborges.com.br/gustavoborges/trajetoria/ |access-date=April 8, 2013 |language=pt}} This mark was achieved at the 1993 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m), in Palma de Mallorca, where Scherer won his first major titles: the gold in the 100-meter freestyle and in the 4×100-meter freestyle, at 19 years of age and after five years of competitive swimming experience. With this, Scherer was elected as the revelation athlete of Brazil. He also finished eighth in the 50-meter freestyle.

= 1994 =

Scherer participated in the 1994 World Aquatics Championships in Rome, where he won the bronze in the 4×100-meter freestyle{{mdash}}along with Teófilo Ferreira, André Teixeira and Gustavo Borges.{{cite web |title=Borges Profile at Sports Reference |work=Sports Reference |year=2012 |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/bo/gustavo-borges-1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200417110502/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/bo/gustavo-borges-1.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 17, 2020 |access-date=April 8, 2013}} Scherer also finished 10th in the 50-meter freestyle and 14th in the 100-meter freestyle.{{cite web |title=Results at 1994 Rome |work=USA Swimming |year=2013 |url=http://www.usaswimming.org/_Rainbow/Documents/26cf958f-cf83-4b68-8c90-349d985a5a1e/94_worlds.pdf |access-date=April 11, 2013 |archive-date=January 16, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140116133251/http://www.usaswimming.org/_Rainbow/Documents/26cf958f-cf83-4b68-8c90-349d985a5a1e/94_worlds.pdf |url-status=dead }}

= 1995 =

In 1995, Scherer signed with Flamengo. He was the first swimmer with signed contract. In March, he competed at the 1995 Pan American Games in Argentina, where he became champion of the 50-meter freestyle, two silver medals in 4×100-meter freestyle and 4×200-meter freestyle, and bronze in the 100-meter freestyle.{{cite web |title=Brazil medals at 1995 Pan |work=UOL |year=2007 |url=http://pan.uol.com.br/pan/2007/historia/1995/nopodio.jhtm |access-date=April 8, 2013 |language=pt}} He was named the Brazilian Athlete of the Year in 1995, after winning two gold medals in the 100-meter freestyle and 4×100-meter freestyle at the 1995 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) in Rio de Janeiro.HistoFINA, Volumes [http://www.fina.org/project/docs/histoFina/HistoFINA_III_a.pdf IIIa (2008 ed)] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150427133912/http://www.fina.org/project/docs/histoFina/HistoFINA_III_a.pdf |date=April 27, 2015 }} and [http://www.fina.org/project/docs/histoFina/HistoFINA_III_b.pdf IIIb (2008 ed)] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150709100932/http://www.fina.org/project/docs/histoFina/HistoFINA_III_b.pdf |date=July 9, 2015 }}. ("HistoFINA" is the FINA's history). Volume III is about the World Short Course Swimming, part "a" has the statistics of the male part "b" of the female. In the 4×100-meter freestyle, he opened with a time of 47.74 seconds in the heats and a time of 47.63 seconds in the final{{mdash}}a South American and Championship record. He also won a silver medal in the 50-meter freestyle.

= 1996 =

At the 1996 Summer Olympics, in Atlanta, Scherer earned a bronze medal in the 50-metre freestyle, came 5th in the 100-metre freestyle and 4th in the 4×100-metre freestyle.{{cite web |title=Profile at Sports Reference |work=Sports Reference |year=2012 |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/sc/xuxa-scherer-1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200417163109/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/sc/xuxa-scherer-1.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 17, 2020 |access-date=April 8, 2013}}

= 1997 =

1997 was a bad year for Scherer. He could not swim competitively for six months after experiencing problems in his left shoulder and both knees caused after the Olympics. He competed in the 1997 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m), where he finished 13th in the 100-meter freestyle, and 20th in the 50-meter freestyle.

= 1998 =

In 1998, Scherer moved to Coral Springs, Florida. He swam at the 1998 World Aquatics Championships, in Perth, Australia, where he finished eighth in the 50-meter freestyle, 17th in the 100-meter freestyle and sixth in the 4×100-meter freestyle.{{cite web |title=Results at 1998 Perth |work=USA Swimming |year=2013 |url=http://www.usaswimming.org/_Rainbow/Documents/67dbbdc2-3dee-43bc-aec4-b9ae8805b5a7/98_wchamp.pdf |access-date=April 11, 2013 |archive-date=September 21, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921053744/http://www.usaswimming.org/_Rainbow/Documents/67dbbdc2-3dee-43bc-aec4-b9ae8805b5a7/98_wchamp.pdf |url-status=dead }} In August in New York City, at the Goodwill Games, Scherer broke the South American record for the 50-meter freestyle with a time of 22.18 seconds, that would only be broken in 2007 by César Cielo. He also broke the 100-metre freestyle record with a time of 48.69 seconds, which was unbroken until 2006, also by Cielo.{{cite web |title=Xuxa's record falls |work=CBDA |date=March 30, 2007 |url=http://www.cbda.org.br/noticias/cai-recorde-de-xuxa-id-7927 |access-date=April 8, 2013 |language=pt |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140203185035/http://www.cbda.org.br/noticias/cai-recorde-de-xuxa-id-7927 |archive-date=February 3, 2014}}{{cite web |title=Cielo surpasses Xuxa record and is the 4th in the world |work=CBDA |date=December 14, 2006 |url=http://www.cbda.org.br/noticias/cielo-derruba-recorde-de-xuxa-e-e-o-4-do-mundo-id-7637 |access-date=April 8, 2013 |language=pt |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140203184913/http://www.cbda.org.br/noticias/cielo-derruba-recorde-de-xuxa-e-e-o-4-do-mundo-id-7637 |archive-date=February 3, 2014 |df=mdy}} With that, Scherer attained first place in the world rankings in both events; he was awarded the title of "World's Best" by Swimworld magazine, and for the second time the best Brazilian athlete, by COB. At this time, the world record for the 50-meter freestyle was 21.81 seconds, set by Tom Jager; the 100-meter freestyle world record was 48.21 seconds, set by Alexander Popov.

At the end of 1998, Scherer broke the third consecutive world record by a Brazilian relay team in the 4×100-meter freestyle on short course. On December 20, shortly after the end of Jose Finkel Trophy, the team of Scherer, Carlos Jayme, Alexandre Massura and Gustavo Borges, in order, fell the pool at Club de Regatas Vasco da Gama and recorded a time of 3:10.45; a record which would be broken in 2000 by the Swedish team.{{cite web |title=Rebeca Record is approved |work=CBDA |date=August 22, 2001 |url=http://www.cbda.org.br/noticias/recorde-de-rebeca-e-homologado-id-369 |access-date=April 8, 2013 |language=pt |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201185513/http://www.cbda.org.br/noticias/recorde-de-rebeca-e-homologado-id-369 |archive-date=February 1, 2014 |df=mdy}}

In this competition, Scherer had also broken the short-course South American records in the 50-meter freestyle with a time of 21.44 seconds, the 100-meter freestyle with a time of 47.17 seconds, and the Brazilian record in the 100-meter butterfly with a time of 53.13 seconds.{{cite web |title=Scherer's records |work=Luiz Lima-Official Site |date=December 20, 1998 |url=http://www.luizlima.com.br/?paged=167 |access-date=April 8, 2013 |language=pt}}{{dead link|date=December 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} In the 50-meter freestyle, Scherer was 0.13 seconds slower than Mark Foster's world record of 21.31 seconds, obtained on December 13. He also came close to the world record in the 100-meter freestyle of 46.74 seconds set by Popov in 1994.

Scherer was also elected Best Swimmer in the World, in 1998, by FINA.

= 1999 =

In March 1999, Scherer broke the South American record for the 50-meter butterfly twice in one week. Also this year, Scherer participated in the 1999 Pan American Games in Winnipeg, in which Brazil achieved its best swimming results of all time. The Brazilian 4×100-meter medley relay team of Alexandre Massura, Marcelo Tomazini, Gustavo Borges and Scherer won the race for the first time in the Pan's history, with a time of 3:40.27, breaking the Pan American and South American records and securing a place in the 2000 Summer Olympics. Scherer also won the gold in the 50-meter freestyle, 100-meter freestyle, and 4×100-meter freestyle and broke the South American record for the latter race, becoming the first Brazilian to win four gold medals in the same Pan American Games.{{cite web |title=Brazil medals at 1999 Pan |work=UOL |year=2007 |url=http://pan.uol.com.br/pan/2007/historia/1999/nopodio.jhtm |access-date=April 8, 2013 |language=pt}}

= 2000 =

This year, Scherer forwent all competitions to prepare for the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. However, after an accident on the stairs of his house he sprained an ankle and partially tore the ligament, almost costing him the Games. Although his injury affected his performance{{mdash}}he hardly used his legs{{mdash}}, Scherer won the bronze in the 4×100-meter freestyle and participated in two other heats, ranking 12th in the 4×100-meter medley and 20th in the 50-meter freestyle.

= 2002 =

In 2002, Scherer returned to Brazil and moved to São Paulo.

= 2003 =

File:Fernando Scherer e Gustavo Borges.jpg

At the 2003 World Aquatics Championships in Barcelona, Scherer broke his own South American record in the 50-meters butterfly with a time of 23.86 seconds.{{cite web |title=Xuxa beats own record and go to the final in Spain |work=Terra |date=July 20, 2003 |url=http://esportes.terra.com.br/esportesaquaticos/noticias/0,,OI189212-EI15529,00-Xuxa+bate+o+proprio+recorde+e+vai+a+final+na+Espanha.html |access-date=April 8, 2013 |language=pt}} He went to the final, finishing in 8th.{{cite web |title=Results of the 50-metre butterfly at 2003 Barcelona |work=OmegaTiming |date=July 21, 2003 |url=http://www.omegatiming.com/File/Download?id=000103050016000000FFFFFFFFFFFF01 |access-date=April 8, 2013}} He also finished 23rd in the 50-meter freestyle,{{cite web |title=Results of the 50-metre freestyle at 2003 Barcelona |work=OmegaTiming |date=July 25, 2003 |url=http://www.omegatiming.com/File/Download?id=000103050048000000FFFFFFFFFFFF01 |access-date=April 8, 2013}} and 12th in the 4×100-meter freestyle.{{cite web |title=Results of the 4×100-metre freestyle at 2003 Barcelona 2003 |work=OmegaTiming |date=July 20, 2003 |url=http://www.omegatiming.com/File/Download?id=000103050007000000FFFFFFFFFFFF01 |access-date=April 8, 2013}}

At the age of 29, Scherer competed in his third Pan American Games in Santo Domingo, where he helped Brazil win 21 medals in swimming{{mdash}}Brazil's all-time record. Scherer won the gold in the 50-meter freestyle, beating the Olympic champion Gary Hall Jr. and world champion José Meolans, and gold in the 4×100-meter freestyle.{{cite web |title=Brazil medals at 2003 Pan |work=UOL |year=2007 |url=http://pan.uol.com.br/pan/2007/historia/2003/nopodio.jhtm |access-date=April 8, 2013 |language=pt}}

= 2004 =

In May, Scherer equaled his South American record of 23.86 seconds in the 50-meter butterfly.{{cite web |title=Fernando Scherer equals South American record in the 50-metre butterfly |work=UOL |date=May 7, 2004 |url=http://esporte.uol.com.br/aquaticos/ultimas/2004/05/07/ult77u1106.jhtm |access-date=April 8, 2013 |language=pt}} At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, he swam just one race, ranking 11th in the 50-meter freestyle.

= 2005 =

Now 30 years old, Scherer competed in the 2005 World Aquatics Championships in Montreal, where on June 24, he broke the South American record in the 50-meter butterfly in the semifinals with a time of 23.55 seconds,{{cite web |title=Results of the 50-metre butterfly semifinals at 2005 Montreal |work=OmegaTiming |date=July 24, 2005 |url=http://www.omegatiming.com/File/Download?id=00010509000C000000FFFFFFFFFFFF01 |access-date=April 8, 2013}} a record that was beaten in 2009 by César Cielo.{{cite web |title=Cielo in the 50-metre butterfly Final |work=César Cielo-Official Site |date=May 7, 2009 |url=http://www.cesarcielo.com.br/home/?p=172 |access-date=April 8, 2013 |language=pt |archive-date=February 3, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140203045057/http://www.cesarcielo.com.br/home/?p=172 |url-status=dead }}{{cite web |title=Xuxa hits record and enters the fight for the podium |work=CBDA |date=July 24, 2005 |url=http://www.cbda.org.br/noticias/xuxa-bate-recorde-e-entra-na-briga-pelo-podio-id-5921 |access-date=April 8, 2013 |language=pt |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140203194049/http://www.cbda.org.br/noticias/xuxa-bate-recorde-e-entra-na-briga-pelo-podio-id-5921 |archive-date=February 3, 2014 |df=mdy}} Scherer finished fifth in the final.{{cite web |title=Results of the 50-metre butterfly final at 2005 Montreal |work=OmegaTiming |date=July 25, 2005 |url=http://www.omegatiming.com/File/Download?id=000105090016000000FFFFFFFFFFFF01 |access-date=April 8, 2013}} He also finished in 24th place in the 50-meter freestyle.{{cite web |title=Results of the 50-metre freestyle at 2005 Montreal |work=OmegaTiming |date=July 29, 2005 |url=http://www.omegatiming.com/File/Download?id=000105090045000000FFFFFFFFFFFF01 |access-date=April 8, 2013}}

= 2007 =

In 2007, Scherer retired from competitive swimming.

Records

Fernando Scherer is the former holder of the following records:{{cite web |title=Men's Swimming Records |work=CBDA |year=2013 |url=http://www.cbda.org.br/recordes/oficiais-masculinos-id-270 |access-date=May 8, 2013 |language=pt |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131006031328/http://www.cbda.org.br/recordes/oficiais-masculinos-id-270 |archive-date=October 6, 2013}}

class="wikitable"

!Race

!Time

!Date

!Record

!Pool

50m freestyle

|22.18

|August 1998

|South American

|Long Course

100m freestyle

|48.69

|August 2, 1998

|South American

|Long Course

50m butterfly

|23.55

|July 24, 2005

|South American

|Long Course

4 × 100 m freestyle{{cite web |title=Brazilian relay enters the final and the Olympics |work=CBDA |date=March 25, 2007 |url=http://www.cbda.org.br/noticias/reveza-brasileiro-entra-na-final-e-nas-olimpiadas-id-7911 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121130041722/http://www.cbda.org.br/noticias/reveza-brasileiro-entra-na-final-e-nas-olimpiadas-id-7911 |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 30, 2012 |access-date=May 8, 2013 |language=pt}}

|3:17.18

|August 1999

|South American

|Long Course

4 × 100 m medley{{cite web |title=Super team hits Winnipeg's record |work=CBDA |date=September 9, 2006 |url=http://www.cbda.org.br/noticias/supertime-bate-recorde-do-pan-de-winnipeg-id-7349 |access-date=May 8, 2013 |language=pt |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131202223253/http://www.cbda.org.br/noticias/supertime-bate-recorde-do-pan-de-winnipeg-id-7349 |archive-date=December 2, 2013}}

|3:40.27

|August 1999

|South American

|Long Course

bgcolor=#DDDDDD

|colspan=7|

50m freestyle{{cite web |title=Delegation grows and animates |work=CBDA |date=21 December 2001 |url=http://www.cbda.org.br/noticias/a-delegacao-cresce-e-anima-a-cbda-id-900 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121203225316/http://www.cbda.org.br/noticias/a-delegacao-cresce-e-anima-a-cbda-id-900 |url-status=dead |archive-date=3 December 2012 |access-date=May 8, 2013 |language=pt}}

|21.44

|December 17, 1998

|South American

|Short Course

100m freestyle

|47.17

|December 19, 1998

|South American

|Short Course

100m butterfly

|53.13

|December 19, 1998

|Brazilian

|Short Course

4 × 100 m freestyle{{cite web |title=In 1998, Brazil beat the world record in the 4×100 freestyle relay |work=Globoesporte |date=December 21, 1998 |url=http://globotv.globo.com/rede-globo/bau-do-esporte/v/em-1998-brasileiros-batem-recorde-mundial-do-revezamento-4x100-nado-livre-masculino/1724350/ |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130103190840/http://globotv.globo.com/rede-globo/bau-do-esporte/v/em-1998-brasileiros-batem-recorde-mundial-do-revezamento-4x100-nado-livre-masculino/1724350/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 3, 2013 |access-date=May 8, 2013 |language=pt}}

|3:10.45

|December 20, 1998

|World

|Short Course

References

External links

{{World Aquatics|name=Fernando de Queiroz Scherer}}
{{Olympics.com profile|fernando-scherer|Fernando Scherer|org_archive=20200710060150}}
{{BOC profile|name=Fernando Scherer}}
{{Olympedia|45685|Xuxa Scherer}}