Caleb Dressel erased any doubts and earned himself a chance to defend his 50-meter freestyle Olympic title in Paris with a win at the U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials on Friday.
Dressel, who won five gold medals at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, including in the 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle and 100m butterfly, will compete in his first individual swim in Paris after missing out after finishing third in the 100m freestyle.
The win marked the end of a long and difficult road to the top for the seven-time Olympic gold medallist, who abruptly retired from the sport in 2022.
Dressel was in his usual form at Lucas Oil Stadium, home of the NFL's Indianapolis Colts, getting off to an explosive start to win the 50m freestyle in 21.41 seconds.
The time makes him the fourth-fastest runner in the world this year, topped by Australian Cameron McEvoy.
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“I knew this was going to be one of the toughest nights for me,” said Dressel, who again posted a top time of 50.79 seconds in the 100 butterfly semifinals.
“(I) wasn’t feeling great, nothing special, so I just had to go for it tonight.”
As his wife, Megan, celebrated in the stands holding their 4-month-old son, August, Dressel checked the scoreboard in the 50m freestyle and gave a powerful fist pump before greeting the crowd.
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Chris Juliano, who won the 100m freestyle this week and was runner-up in the 200m freestyle, took second in 21.69 seconds, while Matt King took third in 21.70 seconds, missing out on an Olympic berth by just a hundredth of a second.
Dressel, 27, said that while he presented a relaxed demeanor on deck in Indianapolis, there were some tense moments behind the scenes.
“There were times during this tournament when I was really down,” he said. “I was in my hotel room off camera, talking to my wife, talking to my therapist, it wasn't smooth sailing the whole tournament.”
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But he added that he was looking to have some fun after a long break in which he renewed his connection with the sport.
This includes the warmth felt by the crowd of more than 20,000 people at the final.
“It's just been fun,” Dressel said. “I'm not doing my best time, I'm not doing one of the best times, but just walking, not even performing, and feeling that love from everybody is really special.”
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Dressel said he has made great strides in the past year in terms of his performance but is hoping to see even more improvement in Paris in five weeks.
“We're going to be faster,” he said. “I'm looking forward to it.”
Regan Smith capped off an incredible week that began with a world record in the 100m backstroke final by winning the 200m backstroke in a time of 2 minutes 5.16 seconds.
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Phoebe Bacon overtook reigning world champion Claire Curzan with just a few metres to go to take second place in 2 minutes 6.27 seconds and book her place in Paris.
Smith, who set world records in the 100m and 200m backstroke in 2019 as a 17-year-old, has had ups and downs since then but goes into Paris as the favourite to win both the backstroke and 200m butterfly.
“I'm really proud of this performance,” Smith said. “I think it's a world of difference compared to 2021 to now.”
Carson Foster, who is headed to Paris as the 400m individual medley winner, used a strong final leg of the freestyle to win the 200m individual medley in 1:55.65.
Shane Casas dominated the early stages of the butterfly and backstroke to build a lead and still held a slight advantage heading for home after the breaststroke.
He put in some tenacious laps in the final freestyle to take second place in 1:55.83, earning his first spot on the Olympic team in his final chance of the week.
“This means everything,” said a tearful Casas as he hugged Foster across the lane ropes.
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