Note that a small technical hiccup cut off the last few seconds of this video. All that was missed was Cielo saying that he would again be racing at the Paris Open this summer before Worlds.
2013 Santa Clara Grand Prix coverage of the 50 freestyle as reported by Braden Keith:
This finish looked closer than it was, as American Nathan Adrian was right on his season best with a 21.76 to win this 50 free. Brazilian World Record holder Cesar Cielo was 2nd in 22.04, and Anthony Ervin was 3rd in 22.07.
Cielo, who has the most-watched knee in swimming right now, looked a little better off the start than he did at the Arizona Invitational last weekend, though he was still clearly nowhere near where Adrian was. The outcome was about the same for the Brazilian who had knee surgery in the fall.
Olympic silver medalist Cullen Jones took 4th in 22.41, and Tyler McGill was 5th in 22.64. McGill is focused wholly on the 100 fly this summer, but could be a darkhorse if he decides to swim this 50 free at Worlds Trials.
Of note, Matt Grevers swam a 23.91 in the B-Final butterfly. By comparison, Cielo, the defending World Champion was a 23.5 split in his 100 fly in prelims on Friday (before warming down the second 50 meters in freestyle.)
This video was captured by SwimSwam contributor Morgan Priestley.
casual deck changing in the background
He’s a walking ad
As he should be. The more money these guys can make swimming pro the better. We’ll all be better for it.
To win Worlds, Cielo will need more than a textile best, maybe a 21.1, and i dont think he had that time on him right now.At least, not with his (BAD) start.
i don’t see anyone going under 21.2, which still is a very scary time
on another note i’m note sure what kind of shot mcgill has in the 50. i love the guy (hence my username) but he’d have to pass up both jones and irvin. seeing as irvin is 6 tenths faster i’m not sure if it’s possible to make the worlds team
Yeah, I’m guessing the winning time we be around a 21.3, MAYBE a 21.2 is we’re lucky. Who will do it? Manaudou has to be the favorite, but we’ll get a better feel once the US Trials are complete.
Philip,
i will put my money in Florent.He trains only for fifties(even if he is aiming a 4x100free slot in the future), he is in a growing phase, i will not be surprised.Before Olympics, Florent was 21.8 swimmer.This year he already made 21.55….
There is a lot of difference training ONLY for fifties.Cielo is even an example.He made 21.57 this year with a horrible start and first 15 meters(i think was 0.4/0.45 slower than his best).That was possible because he is not training for 100free.
You’d have to be brave to bet against Manaudou, but anything can happen in the 50, and the lineup at Barcelona is stacked. Magnussen is still the current world leader with a 21.52 on a half taper and after swimming multiple very fast times across three distances in the days prior, I have to put him second. Adrian’s multiple 21.7s while in training can’t be ignored. Cielo swam a 21.57 earlier this year, and can consistently produce similar and sometimes lower numbers when needed, but his knee is a big question mark. Morozov has been dropping serious time in both SCY and LCM pools, and I would be shocked if he didn’t go quite a bit faster than his 21.72… Read more »
Guy in the background executing a nice towel change in public. Something only swimmers can do without thinking twice about it.