During the course of World War II the club abandoned references to its German origin and in 1941 was renamed to Pinheiros.

In the 1970s João Carlos de Oliveira from Pinheiros held the world record in the triple jump.

In more recent times the club has joined the national elite in basketball and volleyball, in the former even winning international titles.

The basketball and volleyball teams play in the national top divisions, and the swimmers continue their dominance in Brazil.

Since its merger with the Gesellschaft Germania, a social club of German immigrants, in the early 1940s, to form the Esporte Clube Pinheiros, named after the river Rio Pinheiros, flowing close by its seat, the club has also developed as a meeting place and venue for cultural events.

Top stars of the Brazilian entertainment industry, like Daniela Mercury and Jorge Ben Jor have performed in the club's auditorium, which at its opening in 1957, was the largest of its kind in South America.

In the 2005–06 season, EC Pinheiros participated for the first time in the professional first division of Brazilian basketball, but then failed to qualify for the single league that resulted from the merging of the conferences.

In the 2008–09 season, Pinheiros joined the new top Brazilian league, called the Novo Basquete Brasil, under the sponsored name Pinheiros/Sky.

[1] The team plays at the Ginásio Poliesportivo Henrique Villaboim, on the club's grounds in Jardim Europa.

In 2013, the team won its first international title, the most important competition of the Americas, the FIBA Americas League, and thus qualified to play at the 2013 edition of the FIBA Intercontinental Cup, where it lost the series against the EuroLeague champions Olympiacos, of the Greek Basket League.

In 1924, SC Germânia won the State's top tennis club honor, the "Taça Brasil", or the Brazil Cup.

[10] The club's facilities also have served as venue for the Banana Bowl, a Grand Slam -event for junior players between 16 and 18 years of age.

Metzner partnered with Maria Esther Bueno at the 1955 Pan American Games, where she won bronze medals in both singles and doubles.

Hermann Friese, who was German Champion over 1500 metres in 1902 and joined Germânia in 1903 was in 1907 Brazil's sole representative at an international tournament in Montevideo, Uruguay where he won two competitions and finished second in a third one.

João Carlos de Oliveira won triple jump bronze 1976 in Montreal and 1980 in Moscow.

After winning the Brazilian Cup in 2004, Pinheiros also won the first edition of the national league, the Liga Nacional de Pólo Aquático in 2008.