USA Swimming Sectionals, Athens: Cesar Cielo Wraps Up Meet With Strong 100 Free

By David Rieder

ATHENS, Georgia, July 18. WORLD Record-holder Cesar Cielo wrapped up a strong meet at the USA Swimming Sectionals in Athens with a win in the men's 100 free, while U.S. Olympian Amanda Weir won the women's 100 free as well during the final night of long course meters action.

Auburn's Cielo checked in with a 48.99 in the 100 free, winning by nearly a second and a half. Cielo fell just a bit short of his fifth-ranked season best of 48.63 from May. His teammates rounded out the podium, as Tyler McGill took second in 50.41, while Gideon Louw and Kohlton Norys tied for third in 50.79. Notably, Louw's 50.14 prelim swim made him the day's second-best performer.

Swim Atlanta's Weir cruised in the women's 100 free, posting a time of 55.51, not far from her season best of 55.30 from March which ranks her 33rd in the world. Auburn's Christine Marshall, also a U.S. Olympian, took second in 57.22, just ahead of Wildcat's Kayla Sergesketter, who checked in at 57.36.

Auburn's Micah Lawrence took the women's 200 breast in 2:29.15, ahead of Tennessee swimmers Martina Moravcikova and Alex Barsanti, who clocked respective times of 2:34.28 and 2:35.04. Lawrence's time made her fifth-fastest American this year, behind Rebecca Soni, Keri Hehn, Liz Smith, and Justine Mueller.

Auburn also went 1-2 in the men's 200 breast, with Adam Klein overtaking Henrique Barbosa on the final length to win in 2:16.37, to Barbosa's 2:16.91. Barbosa has been much faster this year, with a 21st-ranked 2:12.31 from May. Poseidon's Tyler Harris rounded out the top three in 2:21.52.

Dynamo's Kylie Stewart, 14, took the women's 200 back in a strong time of 2:13.47, beating Wildcat's Chatham Penrod (2:15.78) and Auburn's Maggie Bird (2:16.77). Auburn dominated another event with a sweep in the men's 200 back; Kyle Owens won in 2:03.01, as Max Murphy took second (2:03.37), and Norys earned his second podium of the night, with a third-place time of 2:04.98.

Duke's Ashley Twichell cruised to first in the women's 1500 free, clocking 16:52.76, more than 17 seconds ahead of North Carolina's Katura Harvey, who grabbed second in 17:10.11. Marlins of Raleigh's Victoria Mitchell ended up third in 17:19.79. Dynamo's Matias Koski finished under 16:00 to win the men's 1500 in 15:52.47. Poseidon's Tyler Harris finished second in 16:00.19, while ASL's Steven Kekacs rounded out the top three, clocking 16:05.55.

North Carolina Aquatic Club took the women's 400 medley relay in 4:19.25, with Carly Smith, Layne Brodie, Laura Ruscoe, and Harvey, while Clemson Aquatic Team concluded the meet with a win in the men's medley relay, as Chris Dart, Kyle Shoemaker, Seth Broster, and Alex Carr won in 3:56.26.

Swimming World high school intern David "The Swim Geek" Rieder is a high school swimmer in Charleston, S.C. He swims for the Southern Marlins Racing Team and often negative splits his races. He can be found on the web at swimdr549.blogspot.com and twitter.com/david2swim.

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