LONG BEACH, California, March 5. SIMILAR to being the Home Run King in baseball, there is just something special about being able to call yourself the Fastest Man on the Planet. California's Nathan Adrian took a step closer to that elite status as he became the Fastest American on the Planet during the Pacific 10 Championships.
Adrian rocketed to a time of 18.82 to break Ben Wildman-Tobriner's American record of 18.87 set as a relay leadoff for Stanford at the 2007 NCAA Championships held in Minneapolis, Minn.
Adrian still has a ways to go before becoming the best in the world in the event as Cesar Cielo still owns that status with a ridiculous time of 18.47 set at the 2008 NCAA Championships at Federal Way, Wash.
Adrian returned just a few minutes later to prove the time wasn't a fluke with another 18.82 as the relay leadoff of the California 200 free relay. Cal's Adrian, Graeme Moore, Josh Daniels and Bennett Clark took second in 1:16.36 to Stanford's quartet of Alex Coville, Austin Staab, David Dunford and Jason Dunford that went 1:15.54.