Caeleb Dressel shook off his doubts and booked a chance to defend his Olympic 50-meter freestyle title in Paris with a victory Friday at the USA Swimming Olympic Trials.
Dressel, whose five gold medals at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics included the 50m and 100m freestyle and 100m fly, booked his first individual medley in Paris after missing out with a third-place finish in the 100m free.
The victory capped a long, often difficult road back to the top for the seven-time Olympic gold medalist, who quit the sport abruptly in 2022.
Dressel looked in vintage form at Lucas Oil Stadium, home of the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts, bursting out of the blocks to win the 50 free in 21.41 seconds.
The time makes him the fourth fastest in the world this year, a list led by Australian Cameron McEvoy.
“I knew it was one of my toughest nights,” said Dressel, who would return to the top time in the 100-meter butterfly semifinals in 50.79 seconds.
“(I wasn’t feeling well or anything special, so I had to take my mind off tonight.”
With his wife, Meghan, celebrating in the stands with their four-month-old son, August, in her arms, Dressel checked the 50m freestyle scoreboard and pumped a mighty punch before acknowledging the crowd.
Chris Guiliano, winner of the 100m free and runner-up in the 200m this week, was second in 21.69 — with Matt King locked out of the Olympic berths by a lamentable hundredth of a second as he finished third in 21.70 .
Dressel, 27, said his relaxed demeanor on deck in Indianapolis belied some tense moments behind the scenes.
“There are parts of this meeting I’ve had some very low downs,” he said. “There are parts in my hotel room that aren’t on camera, talking to my wife, talking to my therapist — it hasn’t been smooth sailing this whole meeting.”
But, he added, he is trying to enjoy 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 in the final sessions.
“It was just fun,” Dressel said. “I’m not having the best of times, I’ve never had the best of times, but just going out, not even performing, feeling the love from everyone, it’s really special.”
Having come a long way last year in terms of performance, Dressel said, he expects more improvement in Paris in five weeks.
“We’re going faster, too,” he said. “Looking forward to it.”
Regan Smith capped a superb week that began with a world record in the 100m backstroke final with a wire-to-wire victory in the 200m in 2min 05.16sec.
Phoebe Bacon passed defending world champion Claire Curzan in the closing meters to take second place in 2:06.27 and punch her ticket to Paris.
Smith, who set world records in the 100m and 200m backstroke as a 17-year-old in 2019, has endured her share of ups and downs since then, but she goes to Paris as a contender in both the backstroke and 200m butterfly, which he won on Thursday.
“I’m incredibly proud of this performance,” Smith said. “I think it’s a night and day difference from 2021 to now.”
Carson Foster, tied for Paris as the winner of the 400-meter individual medley, powered home the end of the freestyle to win the 200-meter individual medley in 1:55.65.
Shaine Casas had dominated the butterfly and backstroke leg openers to build a lead and still had a small lead heading home after the breaststroke.
He put in a tough final lap in the freestyle to finish second in 1:55.83 and make his first Olympic team in his final chance of the week.
“It means everything,” said Casas, who broke down in tears as he hugged Foster on the lane rope.
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