Almost 11 months removed from his last competition, Brazilian legend Cesar Cielo is returning to the pool to compete at Balizamento Torneio Regional tomorrow, March 18th. Representing the club to which he recently just returned, Pinheiros, Cielo is set to swim the 50m and 100m freestyle events, as well as the 50m butterfly.
Reigning world record holder in the men’s 50m freestyle, 30-year-old Cielo missed qualifying individually for Brazil’s Olympic team last summer, which meant he wasn’t in the pool at his home Games. Cielo finished 7th in the 100m freestyle at his nation’s trials, clocking a modest 48.99. And although he notched a 50m freestyle time under the 22 second mark for the 52nd time in his career, his mark of 21.91 also wasn’t enough to make the Olympic squad. He was also not selected for his nation’s relays, which meant Cielo missed representing Brazil at a home Olympic Games.
Prior to that, Cielo left the 2015 World Championships mid-competition due to nagging shoulder issues.
Among the additional athletes set to compete at tomorrow’s meet include Brandonn Almeida, Etiene Medeiros, Guilherme Guido, Henrique Rodrigues and Felipe Franca.
A cheater back in the pool. It’s a disgrace. I don’t want those PED monster in the sport.
Yesss