Caeleb Dressel books 50m free Olympic title defence
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Caeleb Dressel's time of 21.41sec in the 50m free is the fourth-fastest in the world in 2024.
PHOTO: AFP
LOS ANGELES – Caeleb Dressel shook off his doubts and secured a chance to defend his 50m freestyle Olympic title in Paris with a victory on June 21 at the US Olympic swimming trials.
The 27-year-old, whose five gold medals at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 included the 50m and 100m free and 100m fly, booked his first individual swim for this summer’s Games after missing out with a third-place finish in the 100m free.
The victory capped a long, often rocky road back to the top for the seven-gold Olympic champion, who stepped away from the sport abruptly in 2022 for mental health reasons.
He looked in vintage form at the Lucas Oil Stadium, exploding off the blocks to win the event in 21.41sec. His time makes him the fourth-fastest in the world in 2024, a list led by Australian Cameron McEvoy.
“It was one of my toughest nights,” said Dressel.
“(I was) not feeling great or anything special, so I just had to gut it out tonight.”
With his wife Meghan celebrating in the stands with their four-month-old son August in her arms, he checked the 50m free scoreboard and gave a mighty fist pump before acknowledging the crowd.
Chris Guiliano, winner of the 100m free and runner-up in the 200m free this week, was second in 21.69sec – with Matt King shut out of the Olympic berths by an agonising one-hundredth of a second as he finished third in 21.70sec.
Dressel added that his relaxed demeanour on deck in Indianapolis has belied some tense moments behind the scenes.
“There’s parts of this meet, I’ve had some very low lows,” he admitted.
“There’s parts in my hotel room that aren’t on camera, talking with my wife, talking with my therapist – it has not been smooth sailing this whole meet.”
But, he added, he is trying to relish the good times after his extended break that refreshed his relationship with the sport.
That includes the warmth he has felt from the crowd, which has topped 20,000 at the finals sessions.
“It’s just been fun,” Dressel said. “I’m not going best times, I haven’t done a single best time. But, just when I’m walking out, not even performing, feeling the love from everyone, it’s really special.”
Meanwhile, Regan Smith capped a stellar week that started with a world record in the 100m backstroke final with a wire-to wire win in the 200m back in 2min 5.16sec.
Phoebe Bacon powered past reigning world champion Claire Curzan in the closing metres to take second in 2:06.27 and punch her ticket to Paris. AFP
