Fernando Scherer

Fernando Scherer

Scherer in 2006
Personal information
Full name	Fernando de Queiroz Scherer
Nickname(s)	"Xuxa"
Nationality	Brazil
Born	(1974-10-06) October 6, 1974 (age 42) Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil
Height	1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Weight	85 kg (187 lb)
Sport
Sport	Swimming
Strokes	Freestyle
Club	Pinheiros/Flamengo
Medal record Men's swimming Representing  Brazil Olympic Games 1996 Atlanta 50 m freestyle 2000 Sydney 4×100 m freestyle World Championships (LC) 1994 Rome 4×100 m freestyle World Championships (SC) 1993 Palma 100 m freestyle 1993 Palma 4×100 m freestyle 1995 Rio 100 m freestyle 1995 Rio 4×100 m freestyle 1995 Rio 50 m freestyle Goodwill Games 1998 New York 50 m freestyle 1998 New York 4×100 m freestyle 1998 New York 100 m freestyle 2001 Brisbane 4×100 m freestyle Pan American Games 1995 Mar del Plata 50 m freestyle 1999 Winnipeg 50 m freestyle 1999 Winnipeg 100 m freestyle 1999 Winnipeg 4×100 m freestyle 1999 Winnipeg 4×100 m medley 2003 Santo Domingo 50 m freestyle 2003 Santo Domingo 4×100 m freestyle 1995 Mar del Plata 4×100 m freestyle 1995 Mar del Plata 4×200 m freestyle 1995 Mar del Plata 4×100 m medley 1995 Mar del Plata 100 m freestyle Universiade 1995 Fukuoka 50 m freestyle 1995 Fukuoka 100 m freestyle 1995 Fukuoka 4×100m freestyle

Fernando de Queiroz Scherer (born October 6, 1974 in Florianópolis) is an international swimmer from Brazil. 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.

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.

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.

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.

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