Entrepreneurs of Paraná – Renato Ramalho

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Born in São Paulo, Renato Ramalho moved to Curitiba when he was still a baby. The son of renowned architect and former Brazilian national team volleyball player Joel Ramalho Júnior, sports have always been a part of his life. As a child, he began to dedicate himself to swimming training, encouraged by his mother, Neusa Ramalho.

With an unusual trajectory that includes his family's rcs database in the founding of the now-defunct Clube do Golfinho, which later, together with Clube Curitibano, was responsible for making Paraná one of the largest swimming pools in Brazil. After being discredited by his coach in his adolescence, who said that Ramalho was not cut out for the sport, Renato forged himself in the maxim that in swimming, as in life, to win you have to lose countless times without getting discouraged.

At the age of 16, his efforts began to be rewarded and he achieved his first significant results at state and national level. The title of South American champion in the 400-meter medley in 1985, in Rosario, Argentina, marked the beginning of a new phase in Renato Ramalho's life as an athlete. His greatest recognition came when he qualified to participate in the 1988 Seoul and 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games.

Seven-time Brazilian champion in the medley event, Renato Ramalho is, according to many swimming experts, one of the most complete and resilient athletes that Brazilian swimming pools have ever produced. In 1991, thanks to swimming, he won a scholarship to Arizona State University (USA), where he studied Business Administration and Entrepreneurship. During this time, he continued to represent the educational institution in American swimming pools. He also played for several clubs in Brazil, such as Curitibano, Flamengo and Esporte Clube Pinheiros. His name currently appears in the hall of fame of the aquatic center at Arizona State University, which honors all students who became Olympic athletes.

In 1996, he returned to Brazil and began managing the drywall company he had set up with his father, which was later sold to his brother. In 2001, in partnership with three friends and former swimming and Brazilian national team teammates – economist Gustavo Borges, architect Gustavo Pinto and administrator Felipe Malburg – he founded a chain of gyms, Academia Gustavo Borges . Later, together, they created a swimming teaching methodology that is now present in more than 450 schools throughout the country, serving more than 200,000 people through the training method.

In 2016, after being elected, he took over as president of Clube Curitibano, the institution he represented when he qualified for the Olympic Games. A dream come true of giving back to the institution that gave him so much for his training inside and outside the pool.

Renato Ramalho is currently dedicated to expanding a new business plan, through Water Colors, a sports equipment company that manufactures swimming trunks, swimsuits and caps, focusing on schools specializing in children's swimming.