Started competitive swimming when he was 10 years old, won his first age-group national title in Curitiba in early 1975.

[4] At the 1981 Summer Universiade, held in Bucharest, he won the bronze medal in the 4×100-metre medley.

The 4×100-metre medley Brazilian relay was also a finalist with brand new South American record.

He finished 5th in the 100-metre and 200-metre breaststroke, and 4th in the 4×100-metre medley, where Brazil broke the national record.

[11] In 1990, he went to live in the United States where he completed an MBA at UCLA Anderson School of Management.