Rubro-negra Maria Clara Lobo leaves this Wednesday (30) for Cochabamba, Bolivia, where she will compete in the ODESUR South American Games for the Brazilian National Team. The athlete is part of the duet in the artistic swimming competition, alongside Luisa Borges. The duo will be accompanied by Roberta Perillier, coach of the national team and Flamengo. 

"It's great to have Beta as the national team's coach as well. She's the one who shaped me into the athlete I am today, and we have a lot of trust in each other, which is very important in the relationship between coach and athlete," commented Maria Clara. 

At the South American Games, the red-black team will compete in the technical duet on June 3 and in the free duet on the 5th in search of gold for Brazil. 

"Our goal is first place. The other teams with a chance of a podium finish are from Colombia, Argentina, and Chile. We've been training focused on the altitude in Bolivia since the beginning of our preparations," he said. 

Voted the best athlete in the sport in 2017, Maria Clara Lobo received the Brazilian Olympic Award in March of this year. She was also part of the free and technical teams at the 2016 Rio Olympics, achieving the country's highest score in the sport at an Olympic Games in history, and helped lead Flamengo to the top of the podium in the technical duet at the Brazilian Championships that same year, alongside Lorena Molinos. For the Brazilian National Team, she competed in the Budapest World Championships and the Santiago Open Championships in 2017.