Caeleb Dressel
Caeleb Remel Dressel is an American freestyle and butterfly swimmer who specializes in the sprint events. He currently represents the Cali Condors which is part of the International Swimming League. He won seven gold medals at the 2017 World Aquatics Championships in Budapest and a record eight medals, including six gold, at the 2019 World Aquatics Championships in Gwangju. Dressel is a two-time Olympic gold medalist and currently holds the world record in the 100 meter butterfly and 50 meter freestyle.
Dressel holds the American records in 50-meter and 100-meter freestyle and in 50-meter and 100-meter butterfly. He also holds the short course records in 50-yard and 100-yard freestyle events, the 100-yard butterfly, and the 200-yard individual medley, and formerly in the 100-yard breaststroke.
Early life
Dressel was born on August 16, 1996 in Green Cove Springs, Florida, the son of Christina and Michael Dressel. He is the third of four children; his three siblings, Tyler, Kaitlyn, and Sherridon are all competitive swimmers.Dressel attended Clay High School in Green Cove Springs, Florida, but trained with the Bolles School Sharks in Jacksonville. He was a collegiate swimmer at the University of Florida starting in 2014, and graduated in 2018.
Career
2012
At the 2012 United States Olympic Trials, Dressel was the youngest male swimmer at 15 and placed 145th in the 50-meter freestyle and tied for 152nd in the 100-meter freestyle. He led off the 200-yard free relay in 19.82, where he became the first swimmer under 16 years old to break 20 seconds.2013
At the 2013 FINA World Junior Swimming Championships in Dubai, Dressel won six medals, including a gold medal in the 100 meter freestyle, breaking the Championships record.At the 2013 Speedo Winter Junior National Championships, Dressel became the youngest swimmer in history to break the 19 second barrier in the 50 yard freestyle, swimming an 18.94 to lead off his club team's relay.
2015
During his freshman year at the University of Florida, he won the 2015 NCAA title in the 50 yard freestyle. At the senior 2015 National Championships in San Antonio, he won two individual titles, in the 50 meter and the 100 meter freestyle. His winning time of 21.53 in the 50 meter freestyle ranked 4th in the world for 2015.2016
At the 2016 Men's NCAA Division I Championships, he broke the American and US Open records in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 18.20 and the 100-yard freestyle with 40.46.2016 Summer Olympics
At the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Dressel won his first gold medal in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay. In the final, he swam the lead-off leg in 48.10, and was followed by teammates Michael Phelps, Ryan Held, and Nathan Adrian. The American team recorded a time of 3:09.92.In the 100-meter freestyle, Dressel finished sixth in the final with a time of 48.02.
Dressel also swam in the heats of the 4×100-meter medley relay, and earned his second gold medal when the USA finished first in the finals. He recorded a freestyle split of 47.74 in the heats.
2017
At the 2017 NCAA Division I Championships, he broke the American and US Open records in the 100-yard butterfly and the 100-yard freestyle with times of 43.58 and 40.00, respectively. He also tied his 50 freestyle record with an 18.20, the same as the preceding year.2017 World Championships
At the 2017 World Aquatics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, Dressel won seven gold medals and set numerous American records. Dressel was named the male swimmer of the meet. He also became the second swimmer to win seven gold medals at a single World Championships, after Michael Phelps in 2007.On the first day of competition, July 23, Dressel set the American record in the 50 meter butterfly with a time of 22.76, topping the semifinals. Later that evening in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay, Dressel set the American record in the 100 meter freestyle with a time of 47.26 in the leadoff leg. Combined with Townley Haas, Blake Pieroni, and Nathan Adrian, the American team won gold with a time of 3:10.06, earning him his first gold of the Championships.
On day two, Dressel finished fourth in the 50 meter butterfly final with a time of 22.89, missing a medal by 0.05 seconds. On day four, Dressel took part in the 4×100 meter mixed medley relay, swimming the butterfly leg and splitting a 49.92. Along with teammates Matt Grevers, Lilly King, and Simone Manuel, the American team won gold in a new world-record time of 3:38.56. That time broke the record set earlier in the day by Ryan Murphy, Kevin Cordes, Kelsi Worrell, and Mallory Comerford. On day five, Dressel re-set the 100-meter freestyle American record with a 47.17 in the 100 meter freestyle final, en route to winning gold by a margin of 0.70 seconds over silver medalist and teammate Nathan Adrian.
On day seven, Dressel became the first swimmer ever to win three gold medals on a single day. He won the 50 meter freestyle in 21.15, a new world textile best time. Half an hour later he won the 100 meter butterfly in 49.86, again a new world textile best and 0.04 seconds above the world record held by Michael Phelps. The third gold medal came in the 4×100 meter mixed freestyle relay, where he led off in 47.22. Dressel and teammates Adrian, Comerford, and Manuel broke the world record for this relay with a time of 3:19.60.
On the eighth and last day of competition, Dressel won his 7th gold in the 4×100-meter medley relay. Swimming the butterfly leg, Dressel recorded a time of 49.76 and the American team of Matt Grevers, Kevin Cordes, and Nathan Adrian won with a time of 3:27.91.
2018
At the 2018 NCAA Division I Men's Swimming and Diving Championships, Dressel won all three of his individual races, and won his first relay national title.On day 2 of the competition, March 22, 2018, Dressel broke the American and US Open records in the 50 yard freestyle thrice. He first swam an 18.11 in the individual preliminaries race in the morning session. He later improved upon that record in the evening leading off The University of Florida's national championship winning relay with a 17.81 split, and finalized his record with a 17.63 in the 50 yard freestyle final. The next day, he broke the American and US open records in the 100 yard butterfly, swimming a 42.80. On the final day of competition, Dressel won the 100 yard freestyle by more than a second in a time of 39.90, completing his sweep of individual events for a second time. This secured him CSCAA Swimmer of the Meet honors for the third year in a row, as he became the first swimmer ever to break the 18 second 50 free barrier, the 40 second 100 free barrier, and the 43 second 100 fly barrier in the history of yards swimming.
On July 19, 2018, Dressel signed with Speedo.
2019
2019 World Championships
At the 2019 World Aquatics Championships held in Gwangju, South Korea, he first won a gold as part of the team in Men's 4 × 100 m freestyle relay. He then won gold in the 50m butterfly, an event he failed to win in 2017. He is the first American man to win that event, and he set a new national and championship record time of 22.35 second for the event. This is followed by a national record and the third fastest time in history in the 100m freestyle.It is important to note that he did so in a textile suit, which is substantially less buoyant than the full body suit used to set the record.In the 100m butterfly event, Dressel broke Michael Phelps' ten-year-old record by 0.32 second in the semi-final, setting a new world-record time of 49.50 seconds. He won gold in the final the following day. That same day within two hours, Dressel won two further golds - in the 50m freestyle in a Championships record time, and as part of the team in the mixed 4x100-meter freestyle relay, which was won in a world-record time of 3 minutes, 19.40 seconds. This is a repeat of his achievement in Hungary in 2017, and it is also the first time anyone has won three gold medals in a single day at the Championships twice.
In the final day of the Championships, Dressel helped United States win a silver in the men's 4 × 100 metre medley relay. The medal is the eighth that Dressel won at the Championships, and the most anyone has won at a single Championships. He was named FINA male swimmer of the meet, which he also won in 2017.
International Swimming League
In 2019 he was a member of the inaugural International Swimming League representing the Cali Condors, who finished third place in the final match in Las Vegas, Nevada in December. Dressel won the MVP in all 3 matches he participated in as well as winning the skins race each time.Personal bests
| Event | Time | Meet | Date | |
| 50 m freestyle | 21.04 | 2019 World Championships | July 27, 2019 | NR |
| 100 m freestyle | 46.96 | 2019 World Championships | July 25, 2019 | NR |
| 200 m freestyle | 1:47.31 | 2019 TYR Pro Swim Series | April 11, 2019 | |
| 50 m butterfly | 22.35 | 2019 World Championships | July 22, 2019 | AM |
| 100 m butterfly | 49.50 | 2019 World Championships | July 26, 2019 | WR |
| 200 m individual medley | 2:01.72 | 2019 TYR Pro Swim Series | April 13, 2019 |
| Event | Time | Meet | Date | |
| 50 m freestyle | 20.24 | International Swimming League | December 20, 2019 | WR |
| 100 m freestyle | 45.22 | International Swimming League | December 21, 2019 | NR |
| 50 m butterfly | 22.06 | International Swimming League | December 21, 2019 | NR |
| 100 m butterfly | 48.71 | 2018 World Championships | December 13, 2018 |
- Dressel swam one of the fastest relay splits in history in the mixed 4x50 medley relay in 20.09. The only sub-20 splits ever were done in the same relay, when Frédérick Bousquet and Amaury Leveaux did so for France at the 2008 European Championships.
| Event | Time | Meet | Date | |
| 50 yd freestyle | 17.63 | 2018 NCAA Championships | March 22, 2018 | NR |
| 100 yd freestyle | 39.90 | 2018 NCAA Championships | March 24, 2018 | NR |
| 100 yd breaststroke | 50.03 | 2018 SEC Swimming & Diving Championships | February 17, 2018 | Former NR |
| 100 yd butterfly | 42.80 | 2018 NCAA Championships | March 23, 2018 | NR |
| 200 yd individual medley | 1:38.13 | 2018 SEC Swimming & Diving Championships | February 15, 2018 | NR |