FEDERAL WAY, Washington, March 27. AUBURN's Cesar Cielo has taken the 50 free to new heights after clocking his ninth 18-second effort in the event at the NCAA Division I Men's Championships.
While coming up short of his new U.S. Open and NCAA record of 18.47 as the 200 free relay leadoff, Cielo still clocked a scintillating swim of 18.52 to defend his title in the event after winning in 2007 with an 18.69. Most amazing is the fact that Cielo did it just about 15-20 minutes after the 200 free relay. The 18.52 is now the second-fastest time ever. Cielo went out in 8.98 and came home in 9.54.
The win is Auburn's eighth all time in the event, only behind Michigan's 12. Cielo becomes only the 17th person to win multiple times. He also sets himself up to match Southern California's Joe Bottom, Auburn's Fred Bousquet and Tennessee's David Edgar as the only three-time winners of the event.
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"This morning I didn't try too hard," Cielo said. "Some people were asking me if I was holding back. I did a little bit in the end. When I went into the race tonight, I knew I was going to improve my time. But, I didn't know it was going to be by that much. I think the greatest thing was wearing a new suit. I had more confidence wearing the new suit. I am trying to change the way I am thinking. I am trying to have the perfect race and see what happens. Last year, I was trying to go 18.6. This year, I did not set a goal time."
Yale's Alex Righi dipped under his 19.11 from prelims with a jaw-dropping 19.08. That ties him for ninth all time with Albert Subirats of Arizona, Matt Targett of Auburn and Neil Walker of Texas.
Subirats, meanwhile, claimed the third spot with a swift time of 19.26 – a bit slower than his preliminary time of 19.18.
Arizona moved into the lead with 97 points after the event, while Texas fell to second with 84 points. California (76), Auburn (75) and Stanford (61) made up the rest of the top five teams.
Event results
ON DEMAND VIDEO
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