Aug. 14, 2008

BEIJING, China - Auburn swimmers broke two Olympic records Thursday morning as five current, former and future Tigers advanced to semifinals at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China.

Cesar Cielo (Brazil) was the first to add his name to the record books as he clocked a 21.47 to win his heat and finish with the second overall seed in tonight's semifinal. Cielo's time broke the Olympic record time of 21.91, set by Russian Alexander Popov at the 1992 Olympics.

Cielo's Olympic record was broken in the every next heat as France's Amaury Leveaux went one hundredth of a second faster than him, finishing first overall in the preliminary.

Not to be left without any honors, Cielo's time also ties the America's record with Garrett Weber-Gale of the United States. It is also a new South American record, breaking his previous record time of 21.84.

Swimming in the same heat as Cielo was former Auburn swimmer George Bovell of Trinidad & Tobago. Bovell finished second to Cielo, clocking a time of 21.77 in the race. Bovell improved his best time by almost a quarter second to finish sixth overall and advance to the semifinal.

Also advancing to the semifinal is Auburn signee Gideon Louw of South Africa. Louw, who is transferring to Auburn from Indian River Community College in Florida, touched in with a time of 22.17 to finish sixth in his heat and snag the 16th and final semifinal spot.

Also competing in the 50m free preliminary was Jakon Andkjaer of Denmark. He came in with a time of 22.52, finishing seventh in his heat and 33rd overall.

Also breaking an Olympic record on Thursday was Zimbabwe's Kirsty Coventry as she touched in with a 2:06.76 in the 200m backstroke preliminary, earning the top seed for tonight's semifinal. She breaks the record time of 2:07.06, set by Krisztina Egerszegi of Hungary at the 1992 Olympics.

Also qualifying for the final was world record holder Margaret Hoelzer of the United States as she finished third in her heat, seventh overall, with a time of 2:09.12.

Two former Tigers were also competing in the 200m back preliminary. Gisela Morales of Guatemala clocked a 2:14.54 to finish 27th overall while Erin Volcan of Venezuela touched in with a time of 2:15.58 to place 32nd overall in the preliminary.

The last of the Auburn swimmers to advance was silver medalist Fred Bousquet of france as he posted a time of 51.83 in the preliminary. He time placed fourth in his heat and 11th overall, giving him one of the 16 semifinal spots.

Three other Tigers were competing in the preliminary, but failed to make the semifinals. Former Tiger Andkjaer, who pulled a double after also competing in the 50m free preliminary, placed 19th with a time of 52.24 - just 0.19 seconds out of 16th place.

Also competing in the preliminary were Alexei Puninski (Croatia) and Jeremy Knowles (Bahamas). Puninski finished 47th with a time of 53.65 while Knowles came in at 49th with a time of 53.72.

Action in tonight's semifinals begins at 9:03 p.m. CT with the first heat of the 50m free. All three Tigers will be in the opening heat with Bovell in lane three, Cielo right next to him in lane four and Louw occupying lane eight.

Action continues at 9:32 p.m. CT with Coventry and Hoelzer in the 200m backstroke semifinal. Both will compete in the second heat with Coventry in lane four and Hoelzer in lane six.

The evening will wrap up for Auburn swimmers at 10:24 p.m. with Bousquet swimming in lane seven in the second 100m butterfly semifinal heat.