Pan American Games: Cesar Cielo, Rachel Bootsma Clock Games Records

GUADALAJARA, Mexico, October 16. THE second night of long course meter action at the Pan American Games in Mexico featured some strong times throughout, including quite a few Games records going up on the scoreboard.

Women's 100 back
Earlier in the day, USA's Elizabeth Pelton downed an historic Pan American Games record with a 1:01.57 in prelims. That effort clipped the 1:01.71 set by B.J. Bedford back in 1995. Reigning Swimming World Magazine Female High School Co-Swimmer of the Year Rachel Bootsma had the last laugh, however, with a swift 1:00.37 in the finale. Bootsma, one of the best backstroke sprinters in the world, clocked a 29.56 on the way out before closing out the win with a 30.81 final 50 meters.

Pelton, meanwhile, gave the U.S. a 1-2 performance by dropping a 1:01.12 for second. The two medals pushed Team USA to 11 medals overall. Mexico's Maria Fernanda Gonzalez gave Mexico its first medal of the meet with a bronze-winning 1:02.00.

Brazil's Fabiola Molina (1:02.04), Colombia's Carolina Colorado (1:02.83), Canada's Gabrielle Soucisse (1:02.88), Guam's Gisela Maria Morales (1:03.37) and Colombia's Isabella Arcila (1:03.80) also competed in the championship heat.

Men's 100 free
Brazil's Cesar Cielo showed some outrageous emotion after the victory, riding the lane line as is his usual celebration, when he clocked a Pan American Games 47.84. That swim moved him to second in the world rankings this year behind James Magnussen's 47.49 from Worlds, and ahead of Cielo's previous best of 48.01. It also tied him with Pieter van den Hoogenband's former longstanding world record. Additionally, the effort beat Cielo's previous Pan American Games record of 48.79 set back in 2007. Cielo went out in 22.84, and came back in 25.00.

Cuba's Hanser Garcia finished second in 48.34 to move into the top 15, while Cayman's Shaune Fraser placed third in 48.63. The event proved to be the first in which the U.S. did not gain two medals. The gold from Cielo pushed Brazil's medal tally to five, behind the U.S. total of 11.

USA's Scot Robison (48.98), Cayman's Brett Fraser (49.07), USA's Bobby Savulich (49.62), Venezuela's Cristian Quintero (49.75) and Paraguay's Ben Hockin (50.03) comprised the rest of the championship heat.

Women's 200 free
USA's Catherine Breed raced to victory in the event with a 2:00.08, while teammate Chelsea Nauta checked in with a silver-winning 2:00.62. A look at the record board for the event provided evidence of just how dominant Sippy Woodhead was in her era, as her 1979 record of 1:58.43 still stands. With the 1-2 finish, the U.S. amassed 13 total medals. Venezuela's Andreina Pinto picked up bronze with a 2:00.79 for her country's second medal of the meet.

Mexico's Liliana Ibanez (2:02.90), Venezuela's Yanel Pinto (2:03.92), Brazil's Jessica Cavalheiro (2:04.13), Brazil's Tatiana Barbosa (2:04.20) and Canada's Jennifer Beckburger (2:04.72) made up the rest of the final heat.

Men's 100 breast
Brazil's Felipe Franca checked in with a top time of 1:00.34 in the finale to move into the top 15 in the world rankings. He just missed the Pan American Games record of 1:00.24 set by Mark Gangloff back in 2007. Teammate Felipe Lima, who already had a 1:00.46 from May, took silver in 1:00.99, while USA's Marcus Titus completed the podium with a 1:01.12. Team USA ended the event with 14 total medals, while Brazil improved its second-place standing with seven.

USA's Kevin Swander (1:01.17), Panama's Edgar Roberto Crespo (1:03.08), Uruguay's Martin Melconian (1:03.10), Colombia's Jorge Mario Murillo (1:03.11) and Mexico's David Oliver (1:03.63) also vied for the title in the finale.

Men's 400 free relay
Brazil's Bruno Fratus, Nicholas Santos, Cesar Cielo and Nicolas Oliveira turned in a Pan American Games record of 3:14.65. That swim eclipsed Brazil's 2007 standard of 3:15.90 with Cielo providing a 47.07 relay split to lock down the emphatic victory.

USA's William Copeland, Chris Brady, Bobby Savulich and Scot Robison took silver in 3:15.62, while Venezuela's Octavio Alesi, Crox Acuna, Cristian Quintero and Albert Subirats earned bronze in 3:19.92.

Paraguay (3:26.19), Mexico (3:26.63), Uruguay (3:28.27), Canada (3:29.42) and Peru (3:47.55) rounded out the championship heat.

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