Pan American Games: Cesar Cielo, Elizabeth Pelton Post Games-Record Scorchers

GUADALAJARA, Mexico, October 20. TWO more Pan American Games records fell during the penultimate evening of long course meter racing. Meanwhile, Team USA pushed its leading medal tally to 39 with 16 golds, 17 silvers and 6 bronzes. Brazil stood second with 20 medals (8 gold, 7 silver, 5 bronze), while Venezuela moved to third with eight medals (1 gold, 1 silver, 6 bronzes).

Men's 50 free
Brazil's Cesar Cielo, who has definitely been on form this meet, cleared his Pan American Games record in the splash-and-dash with a 21.58. That swim cleared his 2007 record of 21.84, and just missed his top-ranked time of 21.52 from the World Championships in Shanghai. Cielo's teammate Bruno Fratus finished second this evening in 22.05, shy of his second-ranked time of 21.76 also set at Worlds. Cuba's Hanser Garcia rounded out the podium with a third-place time of 22.15 to crack into the top 25.

USA's William Copeland (22.30), Cayman's Brett Fraser (22.60), USA's Bryan Lundquist (22.67), Bermudas' Roy-Allan Burch (22.82) and Argentina's Federico Grabich (22.97) completed the top eight in the finale.

Women's 200 breast
Canada's Ashley McGregor raced to victory in the distance breaststroke event with a 2:28.04. USA's Haley Spencer (2:29.30) and Michelle McKeehan (2:30.51) made up the rest of the podium with silver and bronze finishes.

Jamaica's Alia Atkinson (2:30.96), Canada's Hanna Pierse (2:31.06), Argentina's Julia Sebastian (2:32.74), Mexico's Byanca Rodriguez (2:35.15) and Argentina's Mijal Asis (2:35.21) also swam in the finale.

Men's 100 fly
Venezuela's Albert Subirats cruised with a triumphant time of 52.37 in the event. That swim pushed him to 22nd in the world rankings. The conquest brought Subirats full circle after a traumatic series of events that initially had him banned for a one-year antidoping infraction. Subirats had been informing the Venezuelan Swimming Federation regarding his whereabouts for out-of-competition testing. The federation, however, had failed to properly inform the antidoping infrastructure of his schedule. This led Subirats to enough technicality infractions, that he was suspended. FINA, however, took mercy on Subirats after seeing his correspondence with his federation.

USA went 2-3 for the second consecutive event as Eugene Godsoe (52.67) and Chris Brady (52.95) took silver and bronze.

Cayman's Shaune Fraser (52.96), Colombia's Omar Pinzon (53.17), Brazil's Gabriel Mangabeira (53.24), Paraguay's Ben Hockin (53.43) and Brazil's Kaio Almeida (53.62) also vied for the Games title.

Women's 200 back
USA's Elizabeth Pelton dominated the distance dorsal event with a swift time of 2:08.99. That swim smashed the Games record of 2:10.57 set by Teresa Crippen back in 2007, and bettered Pelton's 16th-ranked season best of 2:09.07 from June. Bonnie Brandon, Pelton's Team USA teammate, secured silver in 2:12.57, while Mexico's Fernanda Gonzalez (2:13.56) earned bronze.

Guam's Gisela Maria Morales (2:16.33), Mexico's Lourdes Villasenor (2:16.60), Canada's Gabrielle Soucisse (2:16.86), Venezuela's Elimar Barrios (2:21.40) and Brazil's Fernanda Alvarenga (2:22.77) rounded out the championship field.

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