Dressel wins in dress rehearsal

LOS ANGELES • Caeleb Dressel came away with two wins and plenty of fine-tuning to do on day two of the Pro Swim Series in Mission Viejo, California, on Friday with the Tokyo Olympics on the horizon.

The American, who has added 13 world titles to his resume since winning two Olympic relay golds at Rio de Janeiro in 2016, is gearing up for a multi-event campaign at the pandemic-delayed Games.

Dressel, the world record-holder and two-time defending world champion in the 100m butterfly, snatched a victory in the event in 51.61 seconds, edging out Guatemala's Luis Martinez (51.77sec) to add to the 200m freestyle win he posted earlier.

The 24-year-old later characterised his 100m fly as "not very good", but was confident of improving before the US Olympic trials in Omaha, Nebraska in June.

"I thought I held technique together pretty well," he said. "It didn't hurt that bad, which is a sign that I should have made it hurt worse and gone faster."

The double made it a solid day.

"It's just about racing right now. That's the most important thing, not going for a time," he added after winning the 200m free in 1min 47.57sec.

Dressel also revealed he had no trouble getting revved up for the finals raced in the morning session, to mimic the schedule in Tokyo, where the format will be flipped from the usual morning heats and evening finals, claiming "it wasn't as different or as weird as I thought it was going to be mentally and physically".

Dressel was not the only top swimmer to be some way off his personal best. In the 100m butterfly B final, Singapore's Quah Zheng Wen was third in 53.11sec. The 24-year-old had qualified for the upcoming Olympics in 51.87sec at the 2019 SEA Games.

Meanwhile, at the Tide Swimming Spring Showcase Classic in Virginia Beach, the Republic's defending Olympic men's 100m fly champion Joseph Schooling placed second in the same event after clocking 53.78sec, as American Jack Conger touched home first in 52.90sec.

While others are still getting into their stride, American superstar Katie Ledecky is already in peak form after securing her Pro Swim Series win in the 200m in 1:54.40, a 2021 world-leading time.

The five-time gold medallist was faster than the 1:54.70 posted by China's Yang Junxuan last month, notching the second-fastest time of her career after posting 1:53.73 to win gold in Rio.

"I'm very happy with that time and feel good about what I've been doing in training," she said. "It's nice to see it starting to pay off."

Also, Rikako Ikee completed a clean sweep of four wins, taking the 50m fly and 50m free at Japan's national trials yesterday, but it was not enough to earn an individual place at the Games.

The leukaemia survivor, who resumed training in March last year after being diagnosed with cancer in February 2019, will instead be part of her country's medley and free relay teams. She booked those berths by winning the 100m fly and 100m free last Sunday and Thursday respectively.

Vowing to "make a contribution to the relay team" when the Games begin on July 23, Ikee said: "I've got a few months to go before the Olympics, and I think I can build up some strength before then."

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS