César Cielo Filho (Portuguese pronunciation: [%CB%88s%C9%9Bz%C9%90%C9%BE si.ˈelu ˈfiʎu]; born January 10, 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 Championships gold medals and breaking two world records.

Cielo is the current world holder in the 100 metre and 50 metre freestyle (long course). His gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics, in the 50 metre freestyle competition, is Brazil's sole Olympic gold in swimming to date. On 2008, he broke the NCAA record in the 50yd freestyle (18s47) and in the 100yd freestyle (40s92). Cielo became the fastest swimmer in the world in the two distances, and was named the NCAA Swimmer of the Year for the second year in a row. He is the current record holder of the 50yd freestyle.

Early Life

César Cielo was born on January 10, 1987 in Santa Bárbara d'Oeste, São Paulo, Brazil. The son of pediatrician César Cielo and physical education teacher Flávia Cielo, Cielo began his 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 the age of 16, he transferred to Esporte Clube Pinheiros in São Paulo to train and develop with coach Alberto Silva and Brazilian swimming legend Gustavo Borges. As a gift, 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 joined three friends and formed a group to organize and encourage the sport at the Esporte Clube Barbarense. Werner Schultz, father of André Schultz, 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. (The city, almost 20 years later, has less than 200,000 inhabitants). Werner Schultz placed a swimming pool with two Olympic lanes in the courtyard of the house, which 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". Cielo was so eager for victory that in Atlanta 1996, at nine years old, he was already studying his main reference, the Russian Alexander Popov, through videos, noting details like his outputs and turnarounds.

Earlier, Cielo started competing in backstroke. In his hometown, he was hegemonic. In the entire region, 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 started having problems with freestyle opponents, and started swimming backstroke too. He defeated Cielo, who decided not swim backstroke anymore. At age 15, Cielo attended a series of trainings in Florida, USA. Returned willing to defeat Guido. In the first contest between them, in the 100 m freestyle, Guido was left behind, and the situation was reversed. Guido focused on backstroke, reversing positions with Cielo.