He’s officially back: Seven times an Olympic champion in the pool, Caeleb Dressel finally sealed the chance to swim an individual race in Paris.
Dressel secured the right to defend his championship by winning the 50-meter freestyle Friday night at the U.S. Olympic Trials, held inside the Indianapolis Colts’ Lucas Oil Stadium.
Racing the sport’s fastest event, the former Clay High School swimmer sprang from the block in front and touched the wall in the single-length sprint in 21.41 to place ahead of Chris Guiliano of Notre Dame. Guiliano edged out Matt King for second place and the accompanying Olympic berth by only 0.01 seconds.
For Dressel, victory secured a coveted chance to defend his Olympic title next month in France. The world’s premier sprinter for most of the past decade and the American record-holder in the event, Dressel won one of his five gold medals in Tokyo in the 50 free, which added to his two gold medals in relays from the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro.
Earlier in the Olympic Trials, Dressel had fallen short of individual qualification in the 100 free, although he did clinch a berth on the United States relay team.
Now 27, Dressel has steadily worked his way back to the pool during the past year, after withdrawing abruptly midway through the 2022 World Aquatics Championships in Hungary. He had largely dominated the sprinting world during the previous five years, earning Swimming World male swimmer of the year honors in 2017, 2019 and 2021.
If Dressel wins one gold medal in Paris, he would enter the top 15 all-time for Olympic gold medals, tying the likes of Jamaica’s Usain Bolt with eight. Only five athletes in history have earned more than eight: swimmer Michael Phelps (23), gymnast Larisa Latynina (nine), sprinter and long jumper Carl Lewis (nine), distance runner Paavo Nurmi (nine) and swimmer Mark Spitz (nine).
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: U.S. Olympic Trials 2024, Swimming: Caeleb Dressel, 50 free
