Ana Marcela Cunha
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| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Ana Marcela Jesus Soares da Cunha |
| National team |
 Brazil
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| Born |
23 March 1992 Salvador, Bahia, Brazil |
| Height | 1.64 m (5 ft 5 in) |
| Weight | 65 kg (143 lb) |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Swimming |
| Strokes | Open water marathon |
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Medal record
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Ana Marcela Jesus Soares da Cunha (born 23 March 1992) is a Brazilian swimmer, who specializes in the open water marathon. She is considered one of the best open water swimmers in the world, winning numerous meets for the 10 km marathon at the FINA World Cup series.
At only 14 years old, she collected two gold medals at the 5 km and 10 km marathon, at the 2006 South American Games in Buenos Aires.
In 2005, she was able to reach second place in Travessia dos Fortes (the most important competition of the aquatic marathon calendar in Brazil). Subsequently, became champion in 2006 and 2011.
Cunha qualified for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, after placing tenth at the FINA World Open Water Swimming Championships in Seville, Spain. She became the youngest-ever swimmer to participate in the inaugural women's 10 km open water marathon, against a field of twenty-four other competitors, including her teammate Poliana Okimoto, South African amputee Natalie du Toit, British duo Keri-Anne Payne and Cassandra Patten, and sixteen-year-old American Chloe Sutton. Cunha finished in a close race for fifth place, with a total time of 1:59:36.8, approximately one second ahead of Switzerland's Swann Oberson, yet nine seconds behind winner Larisa Ilchenko of Russia.
At the 2009 FINA World Championships in Rome, Italy, Cunha finished twenty-second in the 10 km marathon, with a time of 2:02:06.4. The following year, she reinforced her lead in the FINA 10 km Marathon Swimming World Cup circuit, by dominating all eight meets of the series. Because of her repeated successes, Cunha was selected as FINA's best female open water swimmer of the year.
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