It took a while, but it happened. After 13 years, Brazilian swimmer Cesar Cielo saw his world record in the 100 meters freestyle being broken this Saturday (13).
The new brand was established by 17-year-old phenom David Popovici in the final of the European Swimming Championships held in Italy.
The Romanian raced in 46s86, surpassing by five hundredths the time achieved by Cielo in July 2009.
In a post on social media, Cielo congratulated the young Romanian on the feat and, in a good-natured tone, acknowledged a certain sadness for having lost his personal brand.
“It’s not easy, see? I’ll be very honest. Remembering is not like proof, it’s not like I lost in the pool. But there’s a strange feeling there. I’m happy for Popovici, who certainly deserved it and worked for reach this result. But I wanted the Brazilian flag to remain there”, he declared.
The Brazilian highlighted the fact that the record had been broken in the same pool where he had set his mark in 2009, at the Stadio del Nuoto, the Foro Italico, in Rome. At the time, so-called tech suits were still allowed, banned in 2010.
“That day has come. Even I thought it would never come again, because the record had been surviving for so many years, and so many good people were trying to beat it. But today, it happened. We have to be very happy. It’s the evolution of swimming, the evolution of high yield”, said Cielo.
“We can’t complain. It’s been 13 years, one hour it was going to fall. Congratulations Popovici, you’re the man. Long live the new king”, concluded the Brazilian, who still holds the world record in the 50-meter freestyle (20s91).
Considered a new phenomenon in swimming, David Popovici also won the gold medal in the 200 meters freestyle during the European Championships.
He had debuted at the Budapest Adult World Cup in June with two titles, also in the 100 and 200 meters freestyle.
At the Tokyo Olympics, the young Romanian finished fourth in the 200-metre freestyle, in the final in which Brazilian Fernando Scheffer took the bronze medal.
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