César Cielo

César Cielo Filho

César Cielo Filho is pictured after winning the 50 m freestyle gold medal at the 2008 Olympics.
Personal information
Full name	César Augusto Cielo Filho
Nickname(s)	Cesão
Nationality	Brazil
Born	January 10, 1987 (1987-01-10) (age 24) Santa Bárbara d'Oeste, São Paulo, Brazil
Height	1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)
Weight	80 kg (180 lb)
Sport
Sport	Swimming
Stroke(s)	Freestyle
Club	CR Flamengo/Auburn Aquatics
College team	Auburn Tigers (2005–2008)
Medal record Men's swimming Competitor for  Brazil Olympic Games Gold 2008 Beijing 50 m freestyle Bronze 2008 Beijing 100 m freestyle World Championships (LC) Gold 2009 Rome 50 m freestyle Gold 2009 Rome 100 m freestyle Gold 2011 Shanghai 50 m freestyle Gold 2011 Shanghai 50 m butterfly World Championships (SC) Gold 2010 Dubai 50 m freestyle Gold 2010 Dubai 100 m freestyle Silver 2004 Indianapolis 4x100 m freestyle Bronze 2010 Dubai 4×100 m freestyle Bronze 2010 Dubai 4×100 m medley Pan American Games Gold 2007 Rio de Janeiro 50 m freestyle Gold 2007 Rio de Janeiro 100 m freestyle Gold 2007 Rio de Janeiro 4x100 m freestyle Gold 2011 Guadalajara 50 m freestyle Gold 2011 Guadalajara 100 m freestyle Gold 2011 Guadalajara 4x100 m freestyle Gold 2011 Guadalajara 4x100 m medley Silver 2007 Rio de Janeiro 4x100 m medley Pan Pacific Championships Gold 2010 Irvine 50 m butterfly Silver 2010 Irvine 50 m freestyle Bronze 2010 Irvine 100 m freestyle

César Augusto Cielo Filho (born January 10, 1987 in Santa Bárbara d'Oeste, São Paulo, Brazil) is a Brazilian professional swimmer who specializes in sprint events. He is the most successful Brazilian swimmer in history, having obtained two Olympic medals, four World Championships gold medals and breaking a world record within a one-year span.^[1]

Cielo is the current world record holder in the 100 meter and 50 meter freestyle. His gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics, in the 50 meter freestyle competition, is Brazil's sole Olympic gold in swimming to date.

Career

Cielo began his career at small swimming clubs in his native state. As a young teenager, Cielo trained at the Esporte Clube Barbarense under coach Mario Francisco Sobrinho. When he was 13, Cielo started training in Piracicaba at the Clube de Campo de Piracicaba under coach Reinaldo Rosa. At the age of 16, he transferred to Esporte Clube Pinheiros, in São Paulo, to train and develop with coach Alberto Silva and Brazilian swimming legend Gustavo Borges. In 2005, he received a scholarship from Auburn University, in the United States, where he trains under Australian coach Brett Hawke. Cielo competed for eight-time NCAA National Champion Auburn Tigers' Swimming and Diving team. He was also tutored by short-distance specialist Fernando Scherer in 2008.

Nowadays, Cielo is sponsored by Clube de Regatas do Flamengo, Arena and Correios. He represents Flamengo in Brazilian competitions, and also trains there, when in Brazil.

NCAA

He currently holds the NCAA and U.S. Open record for the 50 and 100 yard freestyle events, set at the 2008 NCAA Division 1 Swimming and Diving Championships. At Auburn, Cielo won six National Championship events, including sweeping the 2007 50 and 100 freestyle championships. Cielo gave up his fourth and final year of NCAA eligibility, becoming a professional swimmer.

International competitions

Nicholas Santos and César Cielo Filho at the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro.

Cielo Filho at the 2009 US National Championships in Indianapolis.

Cielo placed sixth and fourth in the 50 m and 100 m freestyle, respectively, at the 2007 Swimming World Championships in Melbourne. At the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, he won three gold medals in the 50 m, 100 m and 4x100 m freestyle, and a silver medal in the 4x100 m medley. Cielo went on to the 2008 Summer Olympics, where he received the bronze medal in 100 m freestyle, tied with American swimmer Jason Lezak, and set the Olympic record in 50 m freestyle during the semifinals (21.34). He lowered this further in the finals, winning the gold medal with the time of 21.30, and missing the world record by 0.02 second.

The 2009 World Championships, in Rome, had Cielo winning the 50 m and 100 m freestyle, the third swimmer to achieve this feat in a single World Championship, after Anthony Ervin and Alexander Popov. Popov, Ervin, and Cielo each won Olympic and World Championship gold medals in the 50 m freestyle in succession.^[2] Cielo also broke the 100 m freestyle world record in Rome.

On 18 December 2009 he broke the 50 m freestyle world record with 20.91 s at a championship hosted in Esporte Clube Pinheiros,^[3] his club in Brazil and where he trained since 2003.

In December, the World Swimming Championships Swimming Short in 2010, Cielo, along with Nicholas Santos, Nicolas Oliveira and Marcelo Chierighini, won bronze in the 4x100 meter freestyle race with a time of 3m05s74, South American record, leaving behind the U.S. team. In the 50 meter freestyle race, Cielo won the gold with a time of 20s51, American continent record and the championship record. In the 100 meter freestyle, Cielo also won the gold with a time of 45s74, South American record and the championship. With it, Cielo, at 23 years of age, managed to unify the world titles of two races in the pool long and short. To complete the participation, Cielo led the Brazilian 4x100 meter medley relay team to win the bronze. Along with Guilherme Guido, Felipe França Silva and Kaio de Almeida, hit the South American record with a time of 3m23s12

He is also the current holder of the US Open record in the 100yd freestyle (40.92 s) and the 50yd freestyle (18.47 s). It is of note that these performances were done in textile suits, not in the later polyurethane models.

In the 2011 World Championship in Shangai, Cielo, after been cleared by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) for an accidentally use of a banned diuretic just 3 days before the competition, won the golden medal in the 50 metres butterfly with the time of 23s10. Some days later, in the same competition, Cielo won, for the second time, the golden medal in the 50m freestyle.

Positive drug test

In May of 2011, Cielo tested positive for the banned substance furosemide. Furosemide is a diuretic often used to help lose weight, but is also a masking agent which may hide the presence of other drugs. Cielo was one of four Brazilian swimmers who tested positive for the substance and was given a warning by Brazil's national swimming federation. Cielo claimed the positive drug test was a result of a cross-contamination.^[4][5] FINA appealed Cielo's case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and CAS kept the warning for Cielo. CAS claimed that a caffeine supplement had been contaminated to bring about the failed drugs test. CAS explained that they had become convinced that the furosemide found was not aimed to improve athletic performance or mask the use of some other substance capable of improving performance.^[6]

The CAS decision allowed Cielo to compete in the 2011 World Swimming Championships in Shanghai, generating controversy among other competitors. Notably, Kenyan swimmer Jason Dunford flashed a "thumbs down" to the audience after Cielo's win in the 50 meter butterfly (Dunford finished seventh in the race).^[7] Further controversy followed when Cielo made a slit-eyed gesture into the cameras after winning the 50 meter freestyle. The gesture was called "insensitive and offensive" towards the Chinese hosts.^[8][9]

Achievements

Olympic Games

• Beijing Olympics (China) :
  • Men's 50 m freestyle gold medal (OR).
  • Men's 100 m freestyle bronze medal.

FINA World Championships

• FINA World Championships 2009 in Rome (Italy) :
  • Men's 100 m freestyle gold medal (WR).
  • Men's 50 m freestyle gold medal (CR).
  • (4th) Men's 4x100 m freestyle relay.
  • (4th) Men's 4x100 m medley relay.

• FINA Short Course World Championships 2010 in Dubai (UAE):
  • Men's 100 m freestyle gold medal (CR).
  • Men's 50 m freestyle gold medal (CR).
  • Men's 4x100 m freestyle relay.
  • Men's 4x100 m medley relay.

• FINA World Championships 2011 in Shanghai (China) :
  • Men's 50 m butterfly gold medal.
  • Men's 50 m freestyle gold medal.
  • (4th) Men's 100 m freestyle.

See also

• Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics
• List of world records in swimming
• List of Americas records in swimming
• List of South American records in swimming
• List of Brazilian records in swimming
• World record progression 50 metres freestyle
• World record progression 100 metres freestyle

References

1. ^ Revista Veja (Portuguese)
2. ^ César Cielo Filho's Official website (Portuguese)
3. ^ Globo Esporte (Portuguese)
4. ^ "Brazilian swimmer Cesar Cielo let off with warning despite positive test". Herald Sun. 2011-07-02. Archived from the original on 2011-07-02. http://www.webcitation.org/5zrqyAupz. Retrieved 2011-07-02. 
5. ^ "Warnings Given to Cesar Cielo, Three Other Brazilian Swimmers, After Positive Drug Test". Swimming World Magazine. 2011-07-01. http://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/lane9/news/27408.asp. Retrieved 2011-07-01. 
6. ^ CAS arguments (Portuguese)
7. ^ http://espn.go.com/olympics/swimming/story/_/id/6815407/pharmacy-blamed-world-champion-swimmer-cesar-cielo-positive-doping-test
8. ^ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/swimming/8672664/Cesar-Cielo-in-more-hot-water-following-slit-eyed-gesture-in-China.html
9. ^ http://www.metro.co.uk/sport/oddballs/871495-hamza-labeids-false-start-sends-swimming-crowd-into-meltdown

Video interviews

• Cesar interview in Beijing on Floswimming

External links

• Official website (Portuguese)
• Profile at auburntigers.com
• Profile at sportsreference.com

Records
Preceded by Frédérick Bousquet	Men's 50 metre freestyle world record holder (long course) 18 December 2009 – present	Succeeded by Incumbent
Preceded by Eamon Sullivan	Men's 100 metre freestyle world record holder (long course) 30 July 2009 – present	Succeeded by Incumbent

Persondata
Name	Cielo, Cesar
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	January 10, 1987
Place of birth	Santa Bárbara d'Oeste, São Paulo, Brazil
Date of death
Place of death