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MEN’S 50M BUTTERFLY – FINALS
2013 World Champion: Cesar Ceilo, BRA – 23.01
World Record: 22.43 – Rafael Munoz, ESP – 2009
Championship Record: 22.67 – Milorad Cavic, SRB – 2009
GOLD: Florent Manaudou, FRA – 22.97
SILVER: Nicholas Santos, BRA – 23.09
BRONZE: Laszlo Cseh, HUN & Konrad Czerniak, POL – 23.15
Florent Manaudou of France claimed the Gold medal in the men’s 50 butterfly as the only swimmer to break 23 seconds in the final. Manaudou got his hands on the wall for the win in 22.97, finishing just ahead of Brazil’s Nicholas Santos at 23.09.
Hungary’s Laszo Cseh tied with Poland’s Konrad Czerniak at 23.15 for the bronze medal, putting four men on the podium for the men’s 50 butterfly.
Ukraine’s Andrii Govorov just missed the podium by .03 seconds, finishing in fifth place with a time of 23.18.
The 2013 World Champion, Cesar Cielo, earned a sixth place finish with his time of 23.21. Joseph Schooling broke the Asian record with his time of 23.25, which was good for seventh place.
Benjamin Proud of Great Britain rounded out the final with an eighth place time of 23.39.
Wow- that kick is incredible. He never pauses the whole way
That side-view camera angle is hilarious. Just looks like the bottom of a waterfall is moving down the pool.
His start is off the chart. Explosive power off the block, fabulous entry, great underwater. How long will it take the field to mimick or match him? I reckon that he will retain his advantage until Rio.
He is already there but I think he will bring swimming to a new level. His 50 back was insane when he broke the SCM WR
Just a tank of a swimmer. Simply put, the best sprinter in the world. If he wins gold again in the 50 at Rio he may go down as one of the greatest sprinters ever.
He has 1 individual olympic medal (gold), in SCM World Championships he has 8 medals (4 gold), and in LCM World Championships he has 1 relay gold. He failed to medal individually in 2013. He has never held the long course world record.
I think he’s a fantastic swimmer but he needs to do a lot more than win 1 more individual gold to be in the conversation for greatest sprinter ever.
He has the Textile WR, which is good enough in my book in that department. It’s not his fault that FINA let the suits go wild before he was starting to peak.
I’m not saying he is THERE among the greats. But say he wins the 50 free later at this meet, in 21.2. And say he wins the gold in Rio with a similar time, and maybe picks up another world title.
That would be a pretty impressive resume. And as is, he’s already pretty close to that level, and seems to be going in the right direction to continue his torrid run.
Only Popov has achieved Gold success twice in this young event. Hall Jr. did it twice, but the tie in 2000 leaves an asterisk next to his accomplishment. If Flo can join Popov in being only the second man ever to (truly) conquer Olympic gold in this event, he would have done more than enough to be up there in talks of greatest sprinter ever IMHO. A world record would only add to his legacy. But, say he manages SOMEHOW to dip just under 21 at Rio, I would be fully convinced. But, we certainly will see.
I think Florent needs a bit more consistency before to hold that title.It s not the first time he is swimming with a higher time in final than in semis.That can be costly in the future.Popov and Cielo(when was at his best) were well know to do that, always improving during the rounds.