Swimming coach Shintaro Yokochi passed away on Sunday at the age of 87, the Portuguese Swimming Federation (FPN) announced, remembering him as “one of the most important figures in Portuguese sport”, having coached his son, Alexandre.
Shintaro’s “maximum exponent”, highlights the FPN, was the participation of Alexandre Yokochi in the 200-meter breaststroke final in Los Angeles 1984, until today the only Portuguese swimming final in the Olympic Games.
“To the grieving family, the FPN board of directors offers its most sincere condolences,” it can be read in a statement, which does not reveal the cause of death.
Yokochi, born on October 31, 1935 in Yokohama, survived the explosion of the first atomic bomb, in Hiroshima, on August 6, 1945, and in 1958 he moved to Portugal, finally settling in the country.
He turned down a possible participation in the 1960 Rome Olympic Games, as a swimmer, to become, at the age of 22, coach of the Sport Algés i Dafundo swimming team.
A contact between the club and the Japanese embassy made Yokochi aware of the possibility on the other side of the world, which materialized, initially only for three months, which lasted.
With a degree in political economy, he dedicated himself to the country and it was in Portugal where he spent decade after decade of his life, while he trained, in the national team and in the clubs where he played, some of the best Portuguese swimmers in history. , with his son at the helm, but also other names such as Bessone Basto.
He married and raised a family in Portugal, with Alexandre following in his footsteps as a swimmer, having taken a silver medal at the Europeans for Portugal, among many other achievements, capping it off with seventh place at Los Angeles 1984.
In his career he spent time at FC Porto until moving to Benfica in 1972, beginning to coach his son, who left elite competition in 1992 and is now a university professor in the United States.
He headed the swimming delegation at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, in a process embroiled in controversy, he recalled in an interview with Expresso, having trained the team a few days before the competition, with results below expectations.
“I was so upset that I decided to stay in Portugal to show that I was capable of coaching a great team for the Olympic Games,” he said.
His wife, Irma Delgado, and their three children ended up keeping him in Portugal, having dedicated himself to swimming, considering that he dedicated “his whole life” to it.
He taught swimming at the Military Academy, trained the FC Porto team, worked directly with elite swimmers and, at Benfica, created the most renowned of the Portuguese, to experience, in that final in Los Angeles, “one of the most happy” of life, he recalled.
In addition to swimming, he had export companies and a restaurant in Lisbon, he even participated in veterans’ championships, with his life marked by war and the memory of the atomic bomb.
“I still dream of the war and the bomb. I went through dramatic moments that I will never forget, ”he told Expresso.
Source: TSF
