Coutinho had started training in 1934 at a newly opened pool at the Clube de Regatas Guanabara.

The biggest Brazilian star was Maria Lenk, who competed in the Olympics in 1932 and was developing the breaststroke with recovery of arms out of the water, which would give rise to the butterfly stroke.

[2] Coutinho's swimming improved in the space of a year; she broke the Brazilian record of 400-metre freestyle and was called to the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin.

But poor conditions of travel to Europe, room and board, and the loss of form for going several days without training because of the long journey had its price.

This was typical of Brazilian sport in those days; similar conditions also cost Maria Lenk and Manuel dos Santos medals.

This interest emerged during the 1936 Olympics when she visited a Berlin hospital that through swimming, promoted the recovery of disabled children.

In the late '50s, she campaigned for the construction of Home Recovery of Infantile Paralysis, where she developed water activities.

Her fifth place in 1936 remained as the best women's Olympic placement of Brazil until 1964, when Aída dos Santos was fourth in the high jump.

In the Pan American Games, a Brazilian woman won an individual medal in swimming in 1971, with Lucy Burle in the 100m butterfly.