Coming into the 2012 Maria Lenk Trophy, Felipe Franca de Silva boasted that he was gunning for a World Record. Not a textile-best; not a record in the 50 where he was last year the World Champion, but in the 100 breaststroke, where he had never even broken a minute before.
And he wasn't waiting until London to do it either. He said it was going down at Maria Lenk.
Some snickered in the shadows; saying that the man whose training diet consisted of a whole lot of McNuggets and double cheeseburgers could possibly break a World Record.
But then a new Silva emerged on deck in Rio. A Silva who's lost between 15 and 25 pounds since last year's World Championships, depending on who you ask. One who looks more like an athlete. He posted a huge 59.63 in the prelims to take the top seed by half-a-second.
He's still a long way off of the World Record – that 58.58 belonging to Australian Brenton Rickard is very fast. But this is a record that could go down this year – Alexander Dale Oen got within .2 last year.
He's going to get a strong push from Felipe Lima, who has the second seed in 1:00.11, which is a best time for him as well. For reference, the Brazilian Record is 59.06, held by Henrique Barbosa, who is the 3rd seed in this final in 1:00.85. 5 swimmers were already under 1:01 in prelims.
In other prelims, Laure Manaudou coasted to a 2:16.88 to top the 200 back. Leonardo dos Santos topped the men's version in 1:58.66 that is easily a best time (and in a much more competitive race) ahead of Thiago Pereira in 2:00.86. That should be a great final, as Fernando do Santos and Andre Schultz should also be 2:00′s or better.
Jeanette Ottesen wam the fastest 50 fly time in the world with a 25.68 in the women's race; Glauber Silva, Fred Bousquet, and Cesar Cielo were all 23.7′s or better in the 50 fly.
More recaps after finals. Live Results available here.