Day 2 Latin America Report: Cielo Wins Gold, Kobrich Schimpl In Final

Cesar Cielo overcame a poor start and breakout to win the men’s 50 fly of the 2013 FINA World Championships, defending his 2011 title.  The time wasn’t great (he touched in 23.01, a time which five swimmers beat in semifinals), but Cielo finished like a freight train to out-touch surprise American Eugene Godsoe.  We haven’t seen Cielo be as explosive off the blocks as he used to be (likely due to his nagging knee issues), but he closed better than anyone in the field with brute strength and power.

Failing to join his teammate on the podium was top-seed Nicholas Santos.  Santos was viewed as a shoe-in to medal (or as close as someone can get to one in a 50 meter event), having been ranked first or second in the world each of the last three years.  Despite coming in as the top seed, the Brazilian appeared to tighten up toward the end after a great dive and breakout.  He settled for a disappointing fourth, almost a half second slower than his semifinal time.

Brazil got a big lift early in the session from Felipe Lima, who grabbed a bronze medal in the men’s 100 breast.  After breaking a minute for the first time ever in semifinals (59.84, good for the fifth overall seed), Lima punched the throttle early in his finals swim, taking it out in 27.27, and hanging on over the back half to touch in 59.65.  After a couple years of subpar results, Lima has adjusted his lifestyle and training under Alex Pussieldi, focused specifically on slimming down and becoming more athletic.  It has paid off in a big way; this is the first World Championship medal for Brazil in the 100 breaststroke.

The top women’s swim of the day came from Kristel Kobrich Schimpl of Chile, who bettered her own South American record in the women’s 1500 free.  Kobrich finished second in her heat, touching in 15:54.30 to grab the third seed overall heading into finals.  If Kobrich comes away with a medal tomorrow, she will be the first ever Chilean medalist at a long course World Championship.  She shouldn’t have an issues with pre-race jitters, though; this is her third final at Worlds in the 1500 (she finished fourth in 2011 and seventh in 2007), and she is the 2011 Pan American Games champion in this event.

Some other notes from day 2:

• Andreina Pinto set her second national record in as many days, this time in the women’s 1500 meter.  In this morning’s preliminary sessions, Pinto clocked in at 16:15.99 to finish 11th overall, almost three seconds faster than her previous best (which is also the now-former Venezuelan record) of 16:18.79.  Pinto has already had an exceptional World Championships, becoming Venezuela’s first ever female finalist with her swim yesterday in the 400 freestyle, setting the South American record in the process.
• Cristian Quintero of Venezuela missed out on the 200 free semifinals by just over half a second.  Quintero’s long course performances are a bit of a head-scratcher; despite his ability to go sub-1:33 and 4:13 in the 200 and 500 freestyles, his best long course is just 1:48.71.  His walls are solid, but he has an excellent stroke for long course, as well.
• Carolina Colorado Henao, Colombia’s national record holder in the 100 and 200 meter backstrokes, swam a textile personal best 1:01.41 in the women’s 100 back this morning, narrowly missing her own record (1:01.18 back in 2008).  Colorado Henao touched 18th, just 0.16 out of semifinals.
• Brothers Brett and Shaun Fraser of the Cayman Islands, likely semifinalists in this event, are not competing at World Championships this year.
• Nicholas Oliviera (Nilo) swam a personal best 1:46.99 in prelims of the men’s 200 freestyle to grab the second seed overall.  He was slower in his semifinals swim, however, touching in 1:47.42, just 0.12 out of making the championship final.

There will plenty of action from this region tomorrow, headlined by Kobrich’s quest for a medal in the women’s 1500, and a pair of Brazilian breaststrokers (Joao Gomes and Felipe Lima) looking to push through to the championship final.