“Season 2 of the ISL was awesome,” he admitted. “The ISL created the opportunity to put all the swimmers together to compete inside the ISL bubble, and it was an awesome experience.”
“Although I didn’t have the best preparation for the ISL, it was good to be behind the blocks again, and hear ‘take your mark’ again and feel the heart bump one more time. The situation for me was a lit bit tough because I had to travel a lot to keep my practice going.”
When asked about the takeaways from this ISL season, he remarked, “I learned that we can do anything. A lot of people had a similar situation to mine since COVID is ubiquitous these days, so it was hard for everyone. The ISL taught me that we can accomplish anything we want. We can achieve some goals without proper practice. We need to be fresh in our heads, in our minds, to do our best. I did my best time in the 100 meter breaststroke and I was really happy with those results.”
“I’m 35 years old, and I think I can keep going and I can keep doing my best on times,” he added. “Fellow Brazilian swimmer Nicholas Santos, who competed for Team Iron, almost broke the world record in the 50 meter butterfly, and he did his best time in the 100 meter butterfly, and that was awesome.”
He praised Head Coach and General Manager James Gibson, MBE for his exceptional leadership and guidance for the Energy Standard team this ISL season.
Lima also complimented the incredible photographic work of Mine Kasapoglu, which may be seen on her Instagram page.
On his future plans, he shared that he is looking forward to his Olympic Trials in April of 2021, in an effort to hopefully punch his ticket for the Tokyo Olympic Games next summer.
Regarding the silver lining in this quarantine, he said, “During the pandemic, I experienced almost everything: staying at home, staying with my wife a little bit more, learning more about me, my body and my life, and that was cool since sometimes we don’t have the time to get to do those things. I did a lot of cycling during the quarantine.”
To learn more about Olympic swimmer Felipe Lima, follow him on Instagram and on Twitter.