César Cielo

César Augusto Cielo Filho (, born 10 January 1987) is a Brazilian competitive swimmer who specializes in sprint events.

He is the most successful Brazilian swimmer in history, having obtained three Olympic medals, winning six individual World Championship gold medals and breaking two world records.

Cielo is the current world record holder in the 50-metre freestyle (long course).

He received induction into the International Swimming Hall of Fame, with a ceremony organized for September 29 and 30, 2023.

César Cielo is the third Brazilian to enter the International Swimming Hall of Fame, after Maria Lenk and Gustavo Borges.

Cielo was so eager for victory that during the 1996 Summer Olympics, at nine years old, he was already studying his main reference, Russian Alexander Popov, through videos, noting details like his starts (block outputs) and turnarounds.

Cielo started competing in backstroke.

In the region at the time, Guilherme Guido stood out as the opponent to beat.

Guido defeated Cielo repeatedly in freestyle, while Cielo won the backstroke events.

However, at a certain point, Guido began to lose to freestyle opponents, and began competing in backstroke events.

He defeated Cielo, who then decided not swim backstroke anymore.

At age 15, Cielo attended a series of trainings in Florida, USA, and returned home, willing to defeat Guido.

When Cielo and Guido were reunited in a 100m freestyle contest, Guido fell behind and lost.

From then on, Guido focused on backstroke, reversing positions with Cielo.

As a gift while at Esporte Clube Pinheiros, he received the swimsuit used by Borges in Athens 2004.

Cielo was a childhood friend of André Schultz.

When Cielo was a child, his father formed a group to organize and encourage swimming at Esporte Clube Barbarense.

Werner Schultz, André Schultz's father, also belonged to the group.

They began to create competitions and take the boys on trips.

At one point, there were 500 people practicing swimming at the club, in a city, which almost 20 years later, has less than 200,000 inhabitants.

Werner Schultz constructed a swimming pool with two Olympic lanes in the courtyard of his house, where Cielo used to train.

Since childhood, Cielo could not bear to lose.

Maria Schultz, mother of André Schultz, said, "He could not bear to lose. Several American coaches say this: that good swimmers like to win, and exceptional not afford to lose. Such is the case of Cesão."

In 2005, Cielo received a scholarship from Auburn University in the United States.

He studied international trade with a specialization in Spanish.

While there, Cielo competed for the eight-time NCAA National Champion Auburn Tigers swimming and diving team.

At Auburn, he was trained by Brett Hawke, an Australian Olympic finalist swimmer in Athens.

His gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics, in the 50-metre freestyle competition, is Brazil's only Olympic gold in swimming to date.

In 2008, he broke the NCAA record in the 50 yd freestyle (18.47 seconds) and in the 100 yd freestyle (40.92 seconds).

Cielo became the fastest swimmer in the world in the two distances, and was named NCAA Swimmer of the Year for the second year in a row.

Cesar currently lives and trains in Itajaí.

César Cielo was born in Santa Bárbara d'Oeste, São Paulo, Brazil.

The son of pediatrician César Cielo and physical education teacher Flávia Cielo, Cielo began his athletic career at small swimming clubs in his native state.

As a young teenager, Cielo trained under coach Mario Francisco Sobrinho at the Esporte Clube Barbarense, where his mother taught swimming.

When he was 13, Cielo started training in Piracicaba at the Clube de Campo de Piracicaba under coach Reinaldo Rosa.

At 16 years old, he transferred to Esporte Clube Pinheiros in São Paulo to train under coach Alberto Silva and Brazilian swimming legend Gustavo Borges.

Hawke helped Cielo with his last months of preparation for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

Cielo was also tutored by short-distance specialist Fernando Scherer in 2008.

At Auburn, Cielo's scholarship contract was very strict, prohibiting him from drinking alcohol or taking girlfriends on a night out.

Cielo held the NCAA and U.S. Open record for the 50 yd freestyle, set at the 2008 NCAA Division 1 Swimming and Diving Championships.