The 2024 U.S. Olympic Swim Trials have officially come to a close and former Florida Gator [autotag]Caeleb Dressel[/autotag] will represent the United States of America in three events — the 50-meter freestyle, 100-meter butterfly and 4×100-meter freestyle relay.
He first qualified for the 4x100m free relay team with a third-place time of 47.53 seconds on Wednesday. Dressel was first to the 15-meter mark and finished five one-hundredths (.05) of a second from first-place finisher Chris Guiliano.
On Friday, he proved that he’s still the fastest swimmer in America by claiming first place in the 50-meter freestyle with a time of 21.41 seconds — .20 seconds faster than his Thursday semifinal performance.
Saturday brought another victory for Dressel, this time in the men’s 100-meter butterfly. His 50.19-second finish was just .74 seconds slower than his 2021 world record.
FIRE US UP 🫡
World record holder Caeleb Dressel and 17-year-old Thomas Heilman are going to Paris!
📺: @nbc & @peacock #MTUSA | #SwimTrials24 pic.twitter.com/hIabfKxZWI
— Team USA (@TeamUSA) June 23, 2024
Making it through the U.S. trials is no easy task, especially for someone who has dealt with mental health problems relating to the sport. Dressel has found a way to get from “miserable” to “happy” in swimming, though.
“I am happy with a lot of my swims, and to be back to a place that I wanted to be with the sport is exceptional,” Dressel said Saturday, according to senior reporter Henry Bushnell. “I’m really proud of myself for that.”
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