Cesar Cielo: won NCAA Swimmer of the Year for the second year in a row.following his performance at the NCAA championships. Pete Riley / PHOTO EDITOR
Auburn’s swimming and diving teams headed to the NCAA Championships in hope of continuing a five-year winning streak but fell short finishing fifth overall.
Arizona won the championship, the first ever in school history.
Despite an overall fifth place finish, the swimmers performed well individually.
For the second year in a row, Cesar Cielo, a junior from St. Barbara, Brazil, was named the NCAA Swimmer of the year after impressive performances at the NCAA Championships.
Cielo earned seven All-America honors and won four NCAA titles.
In addition, he set Auburn, NCAA and U.S. Open records while competing at the meet.
Cielo felt good about his performance at the meet.
“It’s pretty spectacular after a whole year of training to be able to attain my goals,” Cielo said. “All of the hard work this year certainly motivated me.”
The four NCAA titles Cielo earned at the meet total 10 in his career, beating the Auburn record held by current assistant coach Brett Hawke.
Senior Alexei Puninski also set a personal best that ranks fourth all-time at Auburn in the 100 freestyle championship.