Cesar Cielo

Olympic gold medalist Cesar Cielo’s swimming career has been spent in uncharted territory. Shattered records, medal hauls and National Championships have made Cielo, just 21 years old, the greatest swimmer in Brazilian history. Cielo solidified the claim at the 2008 Beijing Olympics where he won Brazil’s first-ever gold medal in swimming and the nation’s only gold medal at the Games. He set an Olympic record, swimming the 50-meter freestyle in 21.30.

As the Olympic Champion of the 50-meter freestyle, Cielo holds the title of the “World’s Fastest Swimmer”, a distinction given to the winner of the sprint event. The sprint freestyle specialist added to his Olympic medal count, winning a bronze in the 100-meter freestyle.

After realizing his accomplishment and spotting his family celebrating wildly in the stands, Cielo began to cry in the Beijing pool. Leading up to the Olympics, the Auburn University student had not seen his family for over six months. As he accepted his gold medal and the Brazilian national anthem resonated through the natatorium, he once again began to weep, out of intense pride for his country.

As Cesar trains for the 2012 Olympic Games in London, he continues to be a dominant force in the pool. In December 2009, Cesar wrote his name in history books again, breaking the world record in the 50m with a time of 20.91s. Cesar also holds the world record for 100 meters of 46.91 seconds, which he set on July 30 in Rome at the FINA World Championships.

INTERNATIONAL SUPERSTAR

As a promising young swimmer, the Brazilian native made the decision to attend Auburn, a school with high renown for its swimming success. Extremely dedicated to his family, it was difficult for Cielo to move so far away, but he was passionate about advancing his swimming career.

Advance he did. In his three years at Auburn he was a 19-time All-American and 11-time NCAA Champion, a school record. He was named the 2008 NCAA Swimmer of the Year after winning five championships and setting the NCAA and U.S. Open record for the 50 and 100-yard freestyle. It was his second straight year earning the distinction.

One of only three men in history to swim the 50-yard dash in under 19 seconds, Cielo posted the mark nine times during his collegiate career.

After such a successful showing at the Olympics, Cielo made the decision to forgo his senior year at Auburn to swim professionally. He will split time training in between Brazil and Auburn.

During his amateur career Cielo had a great deal of international success that he will look to continue into his professional career. He left the 2007 Pan American Games with four medals around his neck, including gold in the 50-meter free, 100-meter free and 400-meter free relay.  He set Pan American Games records in each of the events.

Cielo is currently the South American record holder in the 50-meter free, 100-meter free, 400-meter medley relay and 400-meter free relay. He is also the Brazilian national champion in the 50-meter free, 100-meter free and the 50-meter fly.