[7] After playing volleyball and practicing judo, she became a PE teacher,[1] and continued participating in various sports;[7] in 2004, she was involved in a motorcycle accident while on her way to football training.

[1] Having explored swimming as a means of physical rehabilitation,[5] in 2006 Lima was invited to learn rowing with a non-governmental organization to help disabled people in sport in Florianópolis.

[8] The Brazilian Rowing Confederation [pt] then paired Lima with Elton Santana, from Bahia in the north of Brazil, ahead of the Beijing 2008 Summer Paralympics.

[1] Lima contracted a sinus infection shortly before the Games and was displeased with the air quality in Beijing, noting that while she and Santana dominated the race for the first three-quarters, she got blurred vision and was seeing stars at the end.

[13] When the 2020 Summer Paralympics were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Lima's home state of Santa Catarina supported her to continue training.

[1] She has also criticised the previous administration of the confederation for changing her boat partner for their own reasons, as well as politicians in Brazil since the crisis in 2015 for also creating instability in its treatment of athletes.