It appears as though Brazilian sprinter Cesar Cielo is really taking the butterfly races (and his overall strength and conditioning) seriously. So seriously that on the final day of competition of the World Championship Trials in Brazil, he skipped the 50 free (in which he’s already qualified for Shanghai) and focused instead on the 100 fly. He finished in 53.07 to take the win, which was still about 7-tenths away from what he needs to swim in Shanghai; but with much of his taper still ahead of him, he could make a serious run at this event in Maria Lenk in a few weeks.
In Cielo’s absence, the young up-and-comer Bruno Fratus took the win in 22.10, which ranks him 8th in the world. Nicholas Santos also put up a great time to take 2nd in 22.29, and confirmed what we already knew about the Brazilian sprinters: they’re loaded, and they’re deep.
In other sprint action, Felipe Silva (27.69) and Joao Gomes (27.72) both posted top-5 times in the men’s 50 breaststroke. If there’s one area where the Brazilians are almost as good as they are in the short freestyles, it’s the breaststrokes.
Other event winners:
Portuguese swimmer Ana Rodrigues won the women’s 50 breaststroke in 32.64.
Leonardo de Deus won the men’s 200 back in 1:59.72. This puts him in the top-25 in the world this year.
Daynara Paula now ranks 16th in the world after winning the women’s 100 fly in 58.56.
In a two swimmer, head-to-head duel, Joanna Maranhao won the women’s 200 back easily in 2:16.96.
In the women’s 50 free, Flavia Delaroli-Cazziolato won in 25.65, ahead of teenager Graciele Herman in 25.81.