ATLANTA • In the post-Michael Phelps world, Caeleb Dressel fits snugly into his successor's slot as arguably the world's best male swimmer.

Coming off a record performance at July's world swimming championships in Gwangju, South Korea, where he won eight medals - six golds and two silvers - the American figures to be one of the biggest stars at next year's Tokyo Olympics.

Yet he is reticent to step into the spotlight. He puts up his guard when it comes to his personal life.

He really has no desire to be compared to the most successful athlete in Olympic history with 23 golds.

"I don't want to say I just brush it off, because I know it's going to be inevitable," Dressel, who will be Joseph Schooling's biggest threat as the Singaporean seeks to retain his 100m fly gold medal in Tokyo, told the Associated Press.

"But that's not why I'm in this sport... It's not to beat Michael. It's not to go faster than Michael."

Sitting across the table from Dressel at a bustling sandwich shop near Emory University, it does not take long to recognise that he runs a bit deeper than many athletes.

"A thinker" is how his coach, Gregg Troy, describes him.

Dressel is also an avid reader. His infrequent posts on social media are often quoted from whatever book has his attention.

"I can get the physical exercise done with practice and staying in shape," he said. "But you've got to sharpen the mental side. I like to learn."

One recommendation from his book club is The Wright Brothers, a 2015 work by historian David McCullough, chronicling the life of aviation pioneers Orville and Wilbur Wright.

This line stood out to him: "All were extremely proud of the brothers, not because that was the fashion of the moment, but because of their grit, persistence, and... their sterling American quality of compelling success."

That is something two-time Olympic gold medallist Dressel has in spades.

At the 2017 world championships in Budapest, he joined Phelps and Mark Spitz as the only swimmers to win seven gold medals at a major international meet. In South Korea, Dressel won three titles in a single night.

"He's such a dynamic swimmer," said Bob Bowman, who was Phelps' coach and now leads the swimming programme at Arizona State University. "The way he jumps off the block. The race is over when he hits the water. He's so strong. I think of power when I see him swim."

But as Tokyo approaches, the 23-year-old Dressel is not thinking about making a run at Phelps' most iconic record, his eight-gold medal haul at the 2008 Beijing Games.

"It's not about Michael for me," he said. "It never has been."

While he recognises attention comes with the territory when you are getting mentioned in the same breath as swimmers such as Phelps and Spitz, he plans to keep his head down.

The spotlight in Tokyo will be bright, but his focus is solely on the black lines at the bottom of the pool, where he feels most at peace.

"I'm not doing this for money, I'm not doing this for fame," he said. "For me, it's how far can I push this? How fast can I go?"

ASSOCIATED PRESS