Another year begins, and with it, another round of preseason assessments from CUIDAR. The Unified Center for Identification and Development of Performance Athletes is responsible, among other functions, for monitoring and preventing injuries among the Olympic athletes of the Mais Querido. To this end, professionals from the Hermes Pardini laboratory, a partner of the Flamengo team, collected blood samples from the rowers of Flamengo's Senior team on Tuesday morning (15), in order to ensure they are in good health for the start of the competitions.

"This part of the preseason is extremely important for us to understand where our athletes are. Whether they're healthy and ready to start training hard. We know that athletes aren't normal people, and so we have to take every precaution possible," said Carolina Wilke, scientific coordinator of CUIDAR.

"The partnership with Hermes Pardini allows us to perform more in-depth tests, all using the same methodology. Having a partner laboratory allows us to be confident in the quality, which is very high, and we can trust these results to support our doctors. Now, we need to begin more in-depth monitoring of the athletes' physiological aspects as well," Carolina continued. "With the lab's ability to come here and collect samples from the athletes at the club, no one has had to change their routine to take the tests, and we know how important it is for them to maintain this routine."

Like rowing, the professional basketball and volleyball teams benefited from the agreement with the laboratory during their respective pre-seasons in mid-2018. Hermes Pardini also assists Mais Querido with exams throughout the season, especially for low-income athletes or those without health insurance.

"From a technical standpoint, I think this is the most important thing we have in the medical field. One of the biggest challenges we face is performing tests. We conducted a study two years ago that showed that 60% of our 655 athletes don't have any type of health insurance. With this partnership, we've opened up the possibility of performing tests on this entire group. This is the first major advantage: being able to provide tests for those athletes who don't have any health insurance. This is both during preseason evaluations and throughout competitions in the event of injury or illness," commented CUIDAR's medical coordinator, Claudio Cardone.

"The second major advantage is that they give us priority in scheduling exams. If I have an injury during afternoon basketball practice, for example, I can get treatment the same day and provide feedback to the coaching staff. The third is that we, as doctors, end up building a relationship with the professionals there, which creates a channel for us to discuss the exam, get the results faster, and discuss it. I think, from a medical standpoint, it's the best possible agreement," concluded Cardone.

Founded in 2016, CUIDAR currently has 39 healthcare professionals dedicated to the physical and mental well-being of those who defend the Sacred Mantle. The partnership with the Hermes Pardini laboratory, initiated in November 2017, is one of the center's major partnerships, which also has ties to the Rio de Janeiro Institute of Ophthalmology (IORJ) and the Regional Council of Physical Education (CREF), among others.