As we reported earlier this week, world record holder Cesar Cielo missed qualifying individually for Brazil’s Olympic team this summer, but at the end of the Maria Lenk meet, there was still a chance that Cielo could be selected as a relay-only swimmer.
However, when Brazil announced its team yesterday, Cielo was not included on the list. Currently, the roster only lists four men for the 4×100 free, the top four finishers.
Brazil could add two more men in the event, but comments made by executive director of the CBDA, Ricardo de Moura, and the head coach, Alberto Silva, put to rest any speculation that Cielo could be one of the relay-only swimmers selected, as he only finished 7th in the 100 free with a time of 48.99. Gabriel Santos and Alan Victoria were the 5th- and 6th-fastest swimmers in the 100 free, putting them ahead of Cielo for relay spots, should Brazil choose to add any more relay-only swimmers.
Complicating that decision, of course, is that the fact that FINA recently mandated that any relay-only swimmers must swim in either the heats or the finals of their respective relay. Brazil particularly has a history of missing finals in this event after not swimming their top four swimmers in the heats.
As for Cielo, in an interview after the meet, he expressed uncertainty as to his future. He said he would definitely take a break from training, and spend time deciding whether or not he will continue swimming competitively. Cielo also expressed disappointment in missing an individual berth in the 50 free by just 0.09 seconds, but gave credit to the two men who secured the spots, Bruno Fratus and Ítalo Manzine.
While it’s also a bit jarring to see a world record holder fail to make his own country’s Olympic team, it was definitely not a complete shock, as Cielo has battled injuries for years, including shoulder inflammation that caused him to depart early from last summer’s World Championships in Kazan. Cielo alluded to those injuries as having limited his ability to train and impacting his performance this past week at Maria Lenk Trophy meet.
Cielo has long been one of the more recognized figures in international-level swimming. He won gold in the 50m free and bronze in the 100m free at the 2008 Beijing Games, then se the world record holder in both events in 2009, at the height of the super-suit era. However, less than two years later, his career was marred by controversy after he was only given a warning for a failed drug test that Cielo claimed was the result of contamination. Since then, Cielo earned another bronze in the 50m free at London, as well as several medals at the 2013 Barcelona World Championships (long course) and the 2014 Doha World Championships (short course).
Cielo actually tied Jason Lezak for the bronze in ’08, he did not earn silver. I’m surprised no one has corrected this yet
Spot on Jim. I think your comments on Cielo are absolutely valid, and your comparison with the USA is also accurate. I could definitely see a Cielo getting that much fitter and faster from now till August. You have a similar situation with James Magnussen in Australia. He came back from a tough 2015 with all kinds of injuries and particularly a shoulder operation and he came extremely close. Imagine from now till August.
I would support having guys like them join the team and race, if and only if it is not at the expense of another well deserving compatriot. I think a situation like the one you mention where it does not come at the expense of… Read more »
Ever since he has been de-juiced, he has not been that dangerous. A bit like a de-fanged cobra, which looks dangerous, and was very dangerous, but is now no more dangerous than a common garden snake. That is the story written above, if you read between the lines. The Olympics is not going to miss a de-fanged cobra, who is yesterday’s news.
Truly a shame. And I understand in our sport, time is time, if it’s top 6 for the 400 free relay and he’s 7th, he’s not in, but that’s a tough pill to swallow. If it meant removing another athlete from the roster who deserved it to put him on the roster, I think Brazil should not do that. But if it did not remove anyone from the roster, I see no reason why not. It sounds, though, like you cannot bring a person to the olympics who will not swim in those olympics given if they are just on relays…which would mean 1 of those 2 guys would not be swimming while Cielo would. Boy, what a tough call.… Read more »