Hail Cesar! Brazil’s Cielo takes gold at Foro Italico in swimming’s signature race

Hail Cesar! Brazil’s Cielo wins 100 free

ROME — Hail Cesar!

Brazil’s Cesar Cielo Filho won swimming’s signature race with a furious finish Thursday, beating Olympic champion Alain Bernard and becoming the first to break the 47-second barrier in the 100-meter freestyle.

It was Brazil’s first gold medal in 27 years at the swimming worlds, and only the second overall. Cielo joined Ricardo Prado, who won the 400 individual medley in 1982 in Guayaquil, Ecuador.

Cielo broke down in tears on the medal stand, as he did after winning the 50 free at last year’s Beijing Olympics.

“Being a Brazilian (swimmer) is not easy,” he said. “We don’t get a lot of medals, so I felt before I got on the blocks there was an extra thousand pounds in my bag. It just got emotional for me.”

Cielo completed the two-lap race in 46.91 seconds, shaving 0.14 seconds off Eamon Sullivan’s world record set in the Beijing semifinals. Sullivan didn’t make it to Rome due to an illness.

Bernard, the hulking Frenchman, touched second in 47.12, and Frederick Bousquet of France was third in 47.25.

Cielo and Bousquet train together under Australian coach Brett Hawke at Auburn University.

“Training with Fred Bousquet was one of the most important things I did this year,” Cielo said. “We were pushing each other every day.”

Bousquet was fastest for the first 50 meters, but Cielo dominated the second 50.

“I tried to go out as fast as possible — that’s my strong point — and then after the turn I just tried to hang on,” Bousquet said. “I couldn’t be happier to share the award ceremony with Alain and Cesar, two very good friends.”

Bernard broke 47 seconds this year, but the record was not ratified because he wore a swimsuit that was not approved.

Both Cielo and Bernard are sponsored by Arena.

“I don’t see my time as the first 46,” Cielo said. “We’ve got to give Bernard some credit. He was wearing pretty much the same suit as me now.”

Cielo won bronze in the 100 at the Beijing Games.

“I try to teach him to go beyond what he believes he can do. That’s the role of a coach,” Hawke said. “He got some belief with that bronze in Beijing, and I just tried to harness that belief.”

Brent Hayden of Canada finished fourth in 47.27, and David Walters of the United States was fifth in 47.33, beating Michael Phelps’ American record of 47.51 set last year.

“I didn’t think the American record would have gotten me fifth place,” Walters said, adding that Cielo made it difficult to concentrate before stepping on the blocks. “It’s a little interesting because Cesar likes to pound himself, and even if you have your headphones on you can still hear Cesar hitting himself.”

Cielo countering by saying, “If I slap myself it wakes me up a little bit. It tells my body something big is coming.”