Diogo Ribeiro (swimmer)

Diogo Matos Ribeiro (born 27 October 2004) is a Portuguese competitive swimmer who specializes in freestyle and butterfly events. He represents S.L. Benfica at the club level.

Ribeiro rose to prominence in Portuguese and world swimming after winning three gold medals and establishing a new junior world record in the long course 50-metre butterfly event at the 2022 World Junior Championships in Lima, Peru. The following year, competing in his first senior-level World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, he claimed a silver medal in the 50 metres butterfly with a national record time to become the first Portuguese swimmer to win a World Championship medal. Ribeiro's biggest achievement came at the 2024 World Aquatics Championships in Doha, Qatar, where he won the 50-metre and 100-metre butterfly events and secured the first World Championship gold medals for Portuguese swimming at senior level.

Career
In his hometown of Coimbra, he was a swimmer for the Beatriz Santos Foundation (FBS), the Clube Náutico Académico (CNAC) and União 1919. Diogo Ribeiro joined Lisbon-based S.L. Benfica in October 2021, renewing in 2022, in a contract that included the current Olympic cycle and the next one.

Ribeiro won the gold medal in the 50-metre butterfly event at the 2022 FINA World Junior Swimming Championships in Lima, Peru with a Championships and Portuguese record time of 22.96 seconds, which was 0.09 seconds faster than the former world junior record of 23.05 seconds set by Andrey Minakov of Russia in 2020. He also won the gold medal in the 100-metre butterfly, with a time of 52.03 seconds, and the gold medal in the 50-metre freestyle, with a time of 21.92 seconds.

At the 2023 World Aquatics Championships, he won the silver medal in the 50-metre butterfly event, thus becoming the first ever Portuguese medalist in senior world championships. He set a new Portuguese record with a time of 22.80 seconds.

Diogo Ribeiro became world champion in the 100-meter butterfly at the 2024 World Aquatics Championships in Doha, Qatar, repeating the title he won five days earlier in the 50-meter butterfly event.

Results in international championships

 * Ribeiro withdrew after qualifying for the semifinal.

Records
Below are listed Ribeiro's sanctioned record times obtained at world, continental and other relevant international competitions.

Personal life
Diogo Ribeiro lost his father when he was 4 years old and got into the habit, in his own words, "of talking to him a lot at night." When he was 16, he had a motorbike accident in Coimbra that left him with a broken index finger, part of which he lost, and excruciating pain all over his body. Before he made a full recovery, he spent a week in hospital and a month in bed at home. Then he started physiotherapy, but for a while he still had to use a wheelchair when he went to the toilet.