2022 Swammy Awards: European Coach of the Year – Alberto Pinto da Silva

To see all of our 2022 Swammy Awards, click here.

2022 EUROPEAN COACH OF THE YEAR: ALBERTO PINTO DA SILVA, PORTUGAL

In his first full year leading the Portuguese National Team, Alberto Pinto da Silva worked some magic with his group of swimmers training at the Jamor High Performance Center on the outskirts of Lisbon. 

Silva, a Brazilian coach best known for coaching Olympic champion and world record holder Cesar Cielo, took over the Portuguese National Team last September. He got dealt a tough hand as the country’s top junior swimmer, Diogo Matos Ribeiro, was involved in a serious motorcycle accident just about a month prior prior to Silva’s hiring. Ribeiro suffered contusions all over his body, dislocated his shoulder, broke his foot, and lost part of his right index finger — though it was later reconstructed with sensation restored. 

Thanks to some good fortune and even better training techniques, Ribeiro’s recovery has exceeded even the most optimistic of expectations. Just a little over a year after his accident, he won a bronze medal in the 50 fly at the European Championships, becoming Portugal’s third-ever medalist at the meet. 

At World Juniors the following month in September, Ribeiro put the cherry on top of his comeback with a world junior record in the 50 fly (22.96), his third gold medal of the meet after already triumphing in the 50 free (21.92) and 100 fly (52.03). If he had swum that 50 fly time at Euros, he would have earned silver behind Italy’s Thomas Ceccon. That mark was one of four new individual Portuguese records that Ribeiro set this year along with the 100 free (48.52), 100 fly (51.61), and SCM 100 free (46.65). 

Ribeiro credited Silva, or “Albertinho,” as he calls him, for developing a more disciplined workout schedule in the gym and introducing sprint-specific training that unlocked his explosiveness.  

“Albertinho is a very good coach,” Ribeiro said of Silva. “I didn’t go to the gym, but this year I started doing it. I didn’t do speed training, but this year I started doing it. I used to do longer workouts, longer distances, and this year I started to work more on the details and that was the explosion for my body. It was what my body needed. This year I worked nine times a week in the water, four times in the gym, every day.

“I managed to overcome this great challenge of getting back into the water again thanks to my family that was always by my side, but also thanks to my staff,” Ribeiro said. “Now I feel that these last great results that I’ve achieved were undoubtedly thanks to the accident, but also thanks to this new technical team that I joined just this year. I just have to thank them for the time I had.”

Ribeiro wasn’t Silva’s only success story, either. A total of 32 national records fell this year, up from 21 last year and 11 the year before. 

Among the highlights was a career breakthrough for 27-year-old Miguel Nascimento, a fellow Silva pupil who became the first Portuguese man under the 22-second barrier in the 50 free with a 21.90 at the Portuguese Open in July. 

Nascimento was also a key asset on six different relay teams that took down national records this year. He helped lower Portuguese long-course standards in the 4×50 free relay, 4×100 free relay, and 4×100 medley relay; in short course, he broke national records in the 4×50 free relay, 4×100 free relay, and 4×50 medley relay. Ribeiro joined him for five of those record-breaking relays, all except for the LCM 4×50 free relay. 

Tiago Costa (LCM 4×50 medley relay) and Diogo Lebre (LCM 4×50 free relay) also contributed to national records this year while training under Silva. 

HONORABLE MENTIONS

• Adrian Radulescu, Romania – The Club Dinamo and Romanian Swimming Federation coach was right by David Popovici’s side as the 18-year-old freestyle ace had a huge breakout this summer, highlighted by world titles in the 100 free and 200 free in Budapest and a world record in the 100 free at Euros. Radulescu’s instruction involves more than just training tactics. Radulescu seems to take an intellectual approach to the sport, introducing Popovici to stoicism, among other philosophical ideas. As a result, Popovici comes off wise beyond his years in interviews, giving the sense that he’s built for long-term success in the pool.  
• Balazs Virth, Hungary – After last summer’s Tokyo Olympics, Kristof Milak split with his coach of eight years, Attila Selmeci, and joined forces with Virth. In his first full year under Virth, the 22-year-old butterfly specialist lowered his own world record in the 200 fly in front of his home crowd at Worlds. The swim was made more impressive by the fact that nasal septum and tonsil surgery last December and a nasty illness prior to the Hungarian National Championships forced Milak to take extended breaks from training in the leadup to the meet. 
• Alberto Burlina, Italy – Burlina helped Thomas Ceccon claim his first major international medal in epic fashion at Worlds. The 21-year-old Ceccon clocked a 51.60 in the 100 back final, taking down Ryan Murphy’s world record from 2016. He became just the second Italian man to hold a world record and the first Italian man to win a gold medal in a backstroke event at Worlds. Ceccon capped his year by anchoring Italy’s 4×100 free relay team that cracked the world record at Short Course Worlds earlier this month. 

PAST WINNERS

• 2021 Swammy – Tom Rushton
• 2020 Swammy — Mark Faber
• 2019 Swammy — James Gibson
• 2018 Swammy — Energy Standard Club staff
• 2017 Swammy — Philippe Lucas
• 2016 Swammy — Stefano Morini
• 2015 Swammy — Shane Tusup