Reno Reporter

Nevada Athletics celebrated the birthday of Mariana Vignoli. In honor of Latinx heritage month, Vignoli discussed her ties with Latinx heritage and how it has shaped her career and life. 

“Happy birthday Mari. Hope you have a great day #BattleBorn,” NevadaSwim & Dive tweeted.  

A member of the University of Nevada’s swim team, the Porto Alegre, Brazil native began swimming in her homeland, where she swam for Gremio Nautico União before continuing her practices in the United States. Among many achievements as a swimmer in Brazil, she became a finalist of the Summer Junior National Championship twice and a finalist in two categories in the 2018 Brazilian National, according to the University of Nevada, Reno's website.

“I feel like this influences my life because I bring aspects of the place where I grew up, my family, just my culture to my life here,” she explained.

Despite the dramatic transition from Brazil to the United States, Vignoli now feels very comfortable in her community, partly due to the large Hispanic presence there. 

“I feel very comfortable having so many Latino and Hispanic people around me,” she said. 

Vignoli began working towards building her professional career, all the while completing her higher education studies at Colegio Anchieta, East Carolina University and the University of Nevada.

She plans to stay committed to improving her community and her athletic career through her much-valued work ethic.

“I try to give back by trying to be the best as I can be in both classroom and in the pool, and I feel like being a Latina woman we intend to value hard work in every aspect of life,” Vignoli said. “To be a hard worker for us is a big thing, it is very important and it is something that we value a lot so this is what I try to do every day.”