Cesar Cielo Sizzles in Fort Lauderdale 50 Free

Editorial coverage sponsored by SpeedoUSA

FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida, March 16. WITH Ryan Lochte calling it a day after just two events on the first day of the meet, Cesar Cielo had to provide the star power for the night at the Speedo Champions Series sectional stop in Fort Lauderdale.

Cielo put up a blistering time of 22.20 in the men's 50-meter free, a swift time in the early going of this year. David Lambert finished well back in second with a 23.41, while Bolles' Santo Condorelli (23.72) and Ryan Murphy (24.06) earned third and fourth in the finale.

Davie Nadadores' Caroline Colorado won her second title of the meet with a 1:01.70 in the women's 100-meter back to kick off the night. She came up just short of Gemma Spofforth's meet record of 1:01.67 from 2010. AK Sharks' Clara Smiddy (1:02.46) and T2's Elisa Haan (1:05.03) placed second and third in the event.

Russian Olympian Arkady Vyatchanin had some work to do to catch Murphy in the men's 100-meter back, as Murphy went out blazing fast with a 27.05 at the turn. The grizzled veteran, however, had enough in the tank to post a 27.85 coming home to win 55.09 to 55.40 at the wall. Bluefish's Connor Green wound up third in 57.36.

Gulliver's Jana Mangimelli, who withdrew from the University of Georgia earlier this season, is back in the water and doing well at that. She clocked a 2:17.59 to win the women's 200-meter IM. T2's Masters swimming star Erika Erndl, 34, finished second in 2:18.91. Meanwhile, Bluefish's Brooke Zeiger earned third-place honors in 2:19.11.

Erndl returned in the women's 50-meter free to top that event in 26.51. Colorado placed second in the event with a 26.61 after winning the 100-meter back to start the night. Bolles' Kasey Schmidt, just 15, earned third in 26.81.

Bolles' Joseph Schooling smoked the field in the men's 200-meter IM with a winning time of 2:04.09, while Phoenix Swimming's Brian Poon took second in 2:06.72. Ryan Rosenbaum rounded out the top three in 2:07.37.

Andreina Pinto topped the women's 400-meter free in 4:17.53, while 14-year-old Kendal Brent of Swim Florida touched second in 4:19.30. Saint Augustine's Vien Nguyen earned third in 4:19.73. Martin Grodzki, who is set to swim for the University of Georgia later this month at the NCAA Championships, decided to compete at sectionals for some reason, and wound up winning the 400-meter free in 3:56.25. Davie Nadadores' Yoelvis Pedraza took second in 3:59.19, while Julio Galofre took third in 4:00.42.

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