Heading into the Maria Lenk meet observers were looking for Cesar Cielo to put up some strong performances. But the Olympic gold medalist and world record holder didn’t just put up a strong performance it was blazing. Cielo nearly downed Fred Bousquet’s textile best in the 50 free on night two of the meet with a 21.38. That falls just short of Bousquet’s 21.36 from 2010. Not only does it nearly clip the textile best it inches him closer to his own world record of 20.91 and puts the mark within in grasps this summer. It makes him over 3 tenths faster than anyone else this year and is the 25th fastest time ever posted.
Bruno Fratus had a short-lived stay atop the world rankings as his 21.70 from prelims moved him to the top spot this year before Cielo’s time in finals. While he couldn’t quite reach his preliminary swim he still touched second in 21.76 putting the two Brazilians ahead of the rest of the world and making them both strong contenders this summer.
Third went to Bousquet in 21.79; good enough for fourth in the world this year and had he swam that time at the French Olympic Trials he would be heading to London. Unfortunately Bousquet just looked a bit off in Dunkirk a few weeks back which will leave him out of this summer’s Olympics. He will be competing for team France at the European Championships next month.
Thiago Pereira was also impressive in the 200 IM as he posted the second best time in the world this year with a 1:57.11. That time puts him right behind Phelps’ world leading 1:56.32 from the Indianapolis Grand Prix. Pereira who trained at Trojan Swim Club for a while made the return to Brazil at the end of last year to train with the Pro16 group in Sao Paulo. The training move looks to have paid off for the former short course world champion.
As this meet is also serving as part of the Olympic qualifying meet for the Brazilian team Henrique Rodrigues added his name to the roster virtue of his second place finish in the event in 1:58.91. That time moves him up to 10th on the season.
Spain’s Mireia Belmonte, who is participating in this meet along with other top non-Brazilian athletes as members of the respective teams, was upset in the 200 IM by meet-teammate Joanna Maranhao. Maranhao touched in 2:14.63 to just sneak ahead of Belmonte who came in at 2:14.66. Belmonte already sits fifth in the world in this event with the 2:10.53 she swam back at the Spanish Open while Maranhao was looking to add the shorter medley to her Olympic program as she has already earned an Olympic berth in the 400 IM. As that time failed to meet the FINA A standard she could possibly have one more shot at another upcoming meet.
Jeanette Ottesen of Denmark was a double winner on the night taking both the 50 free and the 100 fly for her adopted team. Her time of 25.06 was fast enough to take the win in the 50 but still fell short of her own personal best on the year of 24.78 from the Danish Nationals. She was a touch faster in prelims at 24.98 and looks to improve upon her world ranking as she is slated to compete at next month’s European Championships. She touched in 58.64 in the 100 fly, just off her 58.47 from January but impressive none the less in the back-to-back event.
No other Brazilian wrapped up Olympic spots on the evening but all will have one more qualifying meet to earn the times needed. Glauber Silva took the men’s 100 fly in 52.46, just a tenth off the mark needed. In the men’s 1500 it was Luiz Arapiraca who took the win in 15:22.73 in a great battle with Lucas Kanieski who touched in 15:22.95. Both men missed the mark of 15:11.83.
A few strong swims highlighted night one of the championships in particular the strong showing by Joao de Lucca in the men’s 200 free. The sophomore at the University of Louisville has continued to impress in short course meets in the US and was looking for a breakout swim in long course. His 1:48.26 comes up just under half a second short of the FINA A standard but he got another shot at the mark on the second night from leading off the 800 free relay but relay splits were not made available.
On the women’s side it was Denmark’s Lotte Friis who picked up big points for her team in 1:59.65. While primarily stronger as the distance increases the Danish star did down the meet record of 1:59.78.
Daniel Orzechowski downed the South American (and Brazilian national) record in the 50 backstroke with a time of 24.44. That bettered the previous mark of 24.48 held by Guilherme Guido since 2009. The mark also jumps him to the top of the world in the event. Obviously as a non-Olympic event this doesn’t earn him a spot on the Olympic team but could be a good indication for things to come in the 100 back later in the meet.