Cesar Cielo Swims World Top-10 Time in First Racing in 11 Months

Torneio Regional Juvenil A Senior

Brazilian superstar and World Record holder Cesar Cielo took to a small local meet in Sao Paulo at Pinheiros on Saturday for his first racing since missing the 2016 Olympic Team 11 months ago.

“I rested a lot, I thought in a lot of things, but in the end, I missed the pool, the routine, my teammates, training everyday and overcoming the difficulties,” Cielo said of his time away. “I am happy to be back, my first competition only to break the ice, I hope from now on, I can swim faster.”

Cielo had entered 3 events for the meet, but wound up racing just two: a 50 free and a 50 fly, both in long course. In the 50 free he swam 22.44, which puts him in the top 25 in the world this year, and in the 50 fly he swam 23.75, which ties him for 9th-best this season.

2016-2017 LCM MEN 50 Fly

2Henrique
MARTINS
BRA22.7005/26
3Benjamin
PROUD
GBR22.7507/24
4Caeleb
DRESSEL
USA22.7607/23
5Andrii
GOVOROV
UKR22.7707/23
6Joseph
SCHOOLING
SIN22.9307/23
7Michael
ANDREW
USA23.22*WJR08/27
8Cesar
CIELO
BRA23.2205/05
9Oleg
KOSTIN
RUS23.2407/01
10Tim
PHILLIPS
USA23.2507/23
View Top 26»

The 30-year old Olympic gold medalist dropped the 100 free, as he’s done frequently over the last few years of his career. Cielo said that he was not very satisfied with his times, but that he didn’t expect much faster because of the phase of his training.

Cielo has returned to training with coach Alberto Pinto, who tends to be more of a high-volume coach.

This Pinheiros pool holds a special spot in Cielo’s personal history. The last time he swam here, in 2009, was when he swam his 20.91 World Record in the long course 50 meter freestyle.

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THATGUY
7 years ago

WR is a 20.91

SwimmerFoxJet
Reply to  THATGUY
7 years ago

21.19 is the world record actually. Technology doping doesn’t count.

Louis O\'Reily
7 years ago

It was 2009 when he broke the 50 free world record and it is 20.91

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