Tag: Caeleb Dressel

Anthony Nesty named ASCA George Haines Coach of the Year

Team USA’s strong showing at the Paris Olympics helped Florida’s swimming head coach earn the honor this year.

Florida’s swimming head coach [autotag]Anthony Nesty[/autotag] was named the 2024 ASCA George Haines Coach of the Year recipient on Thursday night at the Hall of Fame Induction and Awards Celebration during the ASCA World Clinic at the Rosen Centre Resort in Orlando, Florida.

Nesty was the men’s U.S. Olympic swim team head coach at the summer Olympic Games in Paris, where Team USA earned three golds, four silvers and three bronze medals. Former Gators standout [autotag]Bobby Finke[/autotag] was among those gold medal recipients, setting a world-record time (14:30:67) in the 1500-meter freestyle event.

Finke also earned a silver medal in the 800m free.

Another Florida alumnus, [autotag]Caeleb Dressel[/autotag], took home two gold medals — the men’s 4x100m free relay and mixed 4x100m medley relay — while adding a silver to his mantle with the men’s 4x100m medley relay team.

Former Gator [autotag]Kieran Smith[/autotag] was also part of Team USA’s men’s 4x200m freestyle relay team that swam to a second-place finish.

About the award

This award is presented annually to the individual whose coaching effectiveness has contributed the most towards American swimming excellence on the World stage. Nesty was named one of five finalists on Aug. 21 of this year, joining, Bob Bowman, Todd DeSorbo, Dave Durden, Greg Meehan, who had numerous medalists at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

The ASCA Coach of the Year has been awarded since 1961. Past recipients include many greats in the profession, including George Haines, for whom the award is named, Doc Counsilman, Eddie Reese, Bob Bowman, Gregg Troy, Jon Urbanchek and many others. The last three winners have been Dave Durden, Anthony Nesty and Gregg Troy.

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Florida Gators take home 11 medals at Paris Olympics

The Olympics have come to a close after 16 days of world class competition. Here’s how every Florida Gator performed at the 2024 Paris Games.

The University of Florida sent more than 40 current and former Gators to the Paris Olympics this summer, and the Orange and Blue claimed 11 medals in total — four gold, four silver and three bronze.

American swimming legend [autotag]Caeleb Dressel[/autotag] took home gold in two team events, the 4×100 free relay and 4×100 mixed medley relay. Dressel also claimed silver in the 4×100 medley relay; although, the Americans were favorites to take gold in the event.

Florida’s two other golds came from swimmer [autotag]Bobby Finke[/autotag] in the 1,500-meter freestyle and track star [autotag]Grant Holloway[/autotag] in the 110-meter hurdles. Finke set a world record with a time 14:30.67 while defending his 2020 gold from Tokyo and added a silver in the 800-meter free.

The other silver medals come from the pool as well. [autotag]Josh Liendo[/autotag] finished second in the 100-meter butterfly, swimming for Team Canada, and [autotag]Kieran Smith[/autotag] was a member of the 4×200 relay team that placed second.

[autotag]Emma Weyant[/autotag] earned bronze in the 400-meter individual medley, and [autotag]Jasmine Moore[/autotag] placed third in both the long jump and triple jump.

If the University of Florida were its own country, the Gators would have finished tied for 16th with Sweden, which also ended the Games with four gold, four silver and three bronze medals.

Other Gators Results at the Olympics

Swimming and Diving

  • Caeleb Dressel (USA) — 6th in 50-meter freestyle, 13th in 100-meter butterfly
  • [autotag]Luke Whitlock[/autotag] (USA) — 15th in 900-meter freestyle
  • Julie Brousseau (Canada) — 4th in 4×200-meter freestyle relay
  • Josh Liendo (Canada) — 4th in 50-meter freestyle, 6th in 4×100-meter freestyle relay, 11th in 100-meter freestyle
  • Maha Amer (Egypt) — 24th in women’s 3-meter springboard prelimnaries
  • Nicole Maier (Germany) — 5th in 4×200-meter freestyle relay
  • Amro Al-Wir (Jordan) — 23rd in 200-meter breaststroke
  • Aleksas Savickas (Lithuania) — 19th in 200-meter breaststroke
  • Jonny Marshall (UK) — 14th in 100-meter backstroke
  • Alberto Mestre(Venezuela) — 21st in 50-meter freestyle, 37th in 100-meter freestyle
  • Alfonso Mestre (Venezuela) — 19th in 400-meter freestyle, 29th in 800-meter freestyle

Track and Field

  • [autotag]Anna Hall[/autotag] (USA) — 5th in women’s heptathlon
  • [autotag]Grace Stark[/autotag] (USA) — 5th in women’s 100-meter hurdles
  • [autotag]Parker Valby[/autotag] — 5th in women’s 10,000 meters
  • Genevieve Gregson (Australia) — 24th in women’s marathon
  • Wanya McCoy (Bahamas) — 18th in 200-meter semifinals, 41st in 100-meter heats
  • Lloydricia Cameron (Jamaica) — 8th in Group A in women’s shot put
  • Reheem Hayles (Jamaica) — fifth in men’s 4×400-meter relay
  • Jevaughn Powell (Jamaica) — 13th in men’s 400-meter semifinals
  • Hakim Sani Brown (Japan) — 5th in men’s 4×100-meter relay, 10th in men’s 100 meter
  • [autotag]Joseph Fahbulleh[/autotag](Liberia) — 7th in men’s 200-meter, 7th in men’s 4×100-meter relay
  • Alida van Daalen (Netherlands) — 13th in Group B in women’s shot put
  • Thomas Mardal (Norway) — 11th in men’s hammer throw
  • Eddie Garcia (Virgin Islands) — did not finish marathon

Basketball

  • Canyon Barry (USA) — 7th in men’s 3v3
  • Andrew Nembhard (Canada) — lost in quarterfinals; top 8
  • Nick Calathes (Greece) — lost in quarterfinals; top 8
  • Andrea Vilano (Spain) — lost in quarterfinals; top 8

Golf

  • Alejandro Tosti (Argentina) — tied for 18th in men’s tournament
  • Camilo Villegas (Venezuela) — 57th in men’s tournament
  • Sarah Schober (Austria) — tied for 47th in women’s tournament

Gymnastics

  • [autotag]Leanne Wong[/autotag] (USA) — traveled as a reserve

Soccer

  • Adriana Leon (Canada) — lost in quarterfinals; top 8 in women’s bracket
  • DeAnne Rose (Canada) — lost in quarterfinals; top 8 in women’s bracket

Tennis

  • Danielle Collins (USA) — lost in quarterfinals; top 8 in women’s bracket

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Dressel misses podium in 50m free, fails to qualify in 100m fly

Disaster struck for Caeleb Dressel on Friday at the Paris Olympics as he missed the podium in one event and failed to qualify for another.

American swimming star and former Florida Gator [autotag]Caeleb Dressel[/autotag] suffered heartbreak twice at the Paris Olympics on Friday as he failed to defend both of his gold medals from Tokyo.

Dressel first raced in the 50-meter freestyle final, in which he placed sixth with a time of 21.61 seconds — slower than his semifinal time of 21.58 seconds.

Then, Dressel missed the cut in the 100-meter butterfly semifinals, placing 13th with a time of 51.57 seconds. Only the top eight advance to the final. Dressel was half a second slower than the eighth-place finisher, Japan’s Naoki Mizunuma.

“Very obviously not my best work,” Dressel said after the race. “Hasn’t been my best week, I don’t need to shy away from that. Yeah, it’s tough, a little heartbreaking.”

It’s been a rough year for the American team overall. The United States have only brought home four golds in swimming through seven days when they typically finish things with 10 or more.

Dressel and the Americans have a chance to end these Paris Games on a positive note, though. The 4×100-meter medley relay begins heats tomorrow, and the United States are looking to defend gold.

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Kieran Smith wins silver as late addition to USA 4×200 Free Relay team

After missing the cut in the 400-meter freestyle, Kieran Smith redeemed himself by medaling as the American 4×200 freestyle relay anchor.

After missing the final cut for the 400-meter freestyle, [autotag]Kieran Smith[/autotag] joined the American 4×200 freestyle relay team and helped win silver for the United States at the Paris Olympics.

Smith swam the anchor leg, posting the second-fastest split overall at 1:44.80. He helped secure silver in a race that was Great Britain’s to lose. The British won with a 6:59.43, followed by the United States at 7:00.78 and Australia at 7:01.98.

Smith didn’t swim in the heats, which took place early on Tuesday. 400-meter free bronze medalist Carson Foster, 200-meter bronze medalist Luke Hobson and Smith joined the team late. Hobson handed off to Foster, who handed off to Drew Kibler, the lone holdover from the heats.

Kibler and Smith were both members of the fourth-place team in Tokyo, adding another layer of redemption to the story.

Florida’s medal count is now up to four. [autotag]Caeleb Dressel[/autotag] won gold in the 4×100 freestyle relay, [autotag]Bobby Finke[/autotag] won silver in the 800-meter freestyle and Emma Weyant won bronze in the 400-meter individual medley — all for Team USA.

Kieran Smith as a Florida Gator

Smith spent four years (2018-22) swimming for the Gators, earning 28 All-American nods, four SEC team championships and two national championships.

He burst onto the scene as a freshman, earning SEC Co-Freshman of the Year honors after winning the 200m individual medley with a swim in 2019. As a sophomore, Smith performed even better, qualifying for the NCAA Championships in the 100m, 200m and 500m freestyle.

Smith won his first NCAA Championship in the 200m freestyle as a junior. He also placed second in the 500m free that year. His second national championship came as a member of the 200m freestyle relay team which set a program record of 1:14.11.

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Photos of Notre Dame’s Chris Guiliano winning first Olympic gold

Congrats, Chris and the rest of the team!

Through the first full day of competition at the 2024 Olympics, the U.S. won only one gold medal. Fortunately for Notre Dame fans, one of their own was involved with that.

[autotag]Chris Guiliano[/autotag], who still swims for the Irish, won his first Olympic gold medal and the first gold medal for the U.S. in Paris. He did with the help of teammates Jack Alexy, Hunter Armstrong and Caeleb Dressel. Together, they won the 4×100-meter freestyle relay in 3 minutes, 9.28 seconds, missing the world record by a measly 1.04 seconds. Australia won the silver, and Italy took the bronze.

Guiliano swam the second leg of the relay and had to battle from behind. However, it was he who gave his team the lead, one it would not relinquish and only continue to build. It was the fourth time in five Olympics the U.S. has won gold in this event.

Here are some images from a memorable day for Guiliano:

Caeleb Dressel anchors USA 4×100 relay team at Paris Olympics, wins 8th gold

Add another gold medal to the trophy case for UF swimming legend Caeleb Dressel, who anchored the USA 4×100 freestyle relay team that won gold at the Paris Olympics.

Former Florida Gator [autotag]Caeleb Dressel[/autotag] won another gold medal on Saturday as the United States dominated the 4×100-meter freestyle relay.

Dressel anchored the race, swimming the fourth and final leg for his country. He began his lap with a two-second lead thanks to a 46.75-second third leg from Hunter Armstrong. Dressel gave up some time to the Australians and Italy— who won the silver and bronze medals, respectively — but the United States finished at 3:09.28, more than a full second ahead of second place.

“Relays are a little more special to be honest,” Dressel said to the Associated Press. “So doing it with these guys has been awesome. It takes me back to my first gold. It really doesn’t get old. Really special standing on the podium with these guys watching the flag go up. I’m extremely proud of them. It made my job easy.”

“It’s really special. Making the team in front of him and then winning a gold in front of him, just checking little boxes that I never would have thought to create throughout my career,” Dressel said. “So that was a really special one tonight.”

Dressel will defend his Tokyo Olympic golds in the 100-meter butterfly and 50-meter freestyle over the coming days.

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Team USA winning its 1st gold medals of the 2024 Paris Olympics sparked great reactions from Michael Phelps and Snoop Dogg

The United States won its first gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics on Saturday.

The United States won its first golds medal of the 2024 Paris Olympics on Saturday in the men’s 4×100-meter freestyle relay.

The gold medal-winning USA freestyle relay team included swimmers like Caeleb Dressel, Hunter Armstrong, Jack Alexy and Chris Guiliano.

The four-person team topped the eight-country field in this year’s 4x100M freestyle relay, with Australia earning the silver and Italy earning the bronze.

This is Dressel’s eighth-straight Olympic gold medal in competition, as he’s eight-for-eight in his Olympic career.

The freestyle relay win helps the United States early in its quest to top the globe in total medals earned, and the first gold medals won at any Olympic Games for any country are always special.

Outside of the thrilling Team USA victory, the reactions to the win were just as wonderful.

NBC captured reactions from Olympic swimming legend Michael Phelps in the network’s studio, and rap legend Snoop Dogg and Meghan Dressel, Caleb’s wife, in the stands. All three really are picture perfect.

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Florida swimming and diving represented by 14 Gators at Paris Olympics

Caeleb Dressel and Bobby Finke headline a pack of 14 Gators in the pool at the Paris Olympics this summer.

A total of 14 Gators swimmers and divers will represent the University of Florida at the Paris Olympics this summer.

Current Florida swimmers competing at the 2024 games are Julie Brousseau, Josh Liendo, Jonny Marshall, Nicole Maier, Aleksas Savickas, Emma Weyant and Luke Whitlock. Former Gators that will be competing are Amro Al-Wir, Maha Amer, [autotag]Caeleb Dressel[/autotag], [autotag]Bobby Finke[/autotag], Alberto Mestre, Alfonso Mestre and [autotag]Kieran Smith[/autotag].

In addition, Florida head coach Anthony Nesty will serve as the U.S. men’s swimming head coach while assistant coach Whitney Hite joins Nesty on staff as an assistant/personal coach for USA Swimming.

Three former Gator swimmers are also present in Paris. Gator Olympic medalist Elizabeth Beisel will help the NBC coverage, while current UF team physician Dr. Katie Edenfield is the team doctor for U.S. Swimming and six-time NCAA champion Julia Gorman is the U.S. open water swimming physical therapist.

[autotag]Katie Ledecky[/autotag], who has been training with the Florida swimming program and has served as a volunteer on the staff, will also be in the City of Lights. She is heading to her fourth Olympic Games after earning a berth in the U.S. Olympic Trials, becoming the ninth U.S. swimmer to qualify at least four times for the sport’s grandest stage.

Florida’s 14 Olympic competitors in pool

Athlete Events Representing Country
Amro Al-Wir 200 Breaststroke Jordan
Maha Amer 3-Meter Springboard Egypt
Julie Brousseau 4×200 Free Relay Canada
Caeleb Dressel 100 Butterfly
50 Freestyle
4×100 Free Relay		 USA
Bobby Finke 800 Freestyle
1500 Freestyle		 USA
Josh Liendo 50 Freestyle
100 Butterfly
100 Freestyle
4×100 Free Relay
4×100 Medley Relay		 Canada
Jonny Marshall 100 Backstroke Great Britain
Nicole Maier 4×200 Free Relay Germany
Aleksas Savickas 200 Breaststroke Lithuania
Alberto Mestre 50 Freestyle
100 Freestyle		 Venezuela
Alfonso Mestre 400 Freestyle
800 Freestyle		 Venezuela
Kieran Smith 400 Freestyle USA
Emma Weyant 400 IM USA
Luke Whitlock 800 Freestyle USA

How to Watch

Pool swimming runs from July 27 through Aug. 4 inside the La Défense Arena. Diving will take place at the Paris Aquatics Centre from July 27 through Aug. 10. Open Water swimming will take place Aug. 8-9 at the Pont Alexandre III venue.

Every day, the NBC broadcast network will provide Olympic fans with live finals coverage of swimming. Additionally, each swimming session will be available on the NBC Olympics website and Peacock.

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Gators sending all-time high 40 Florida athletes to Paris Olympics

There will be a whole gaggle of Gators competing in Paris these next few weeks.

The University of Florida will have a school-best 40 current Gators and alumni at the 2024 Paris Olympics, which kicks off this week in the City of Lights. The Orange and Blue have the fourth-best showing among college institutions.

Compare the 2024 numbers with the 39 UF representatives at the 2008 Beijing Games and 35 at the Tokyo Games in 2020.

In addition to those 40 competitors, Florida has five coaches also in Paris for the games — one of whom will also be competing. [autotag]Anthony Nesty[/autotag] is the head coach for the US men’s swimming team while Whitney Hite is also on the Team USA swimming staff as an assistant and personal coach.

Nic Petersen is Team USA’s jumps/multis coach for men’s track and field while [autotag]Leanne Wong[/autotag]’s coach Owen Field will assist the USA Gymnastics squad. Rhyne Howard will play for USA Basketball in the 3×3 event.

17 Gators are repeat Olympians

Amro Al-Wir (Jordan 2x), Maha Amer (Egypt 2x), Lloydricia Cameron (Jamaica 2x), [autotag]Caeleb Dressel[/autotag] (U.S. 3x), Joseph Fahnbulleh (Liberia 2x), [autotag]Bobby Finke[/autotag] (U.S. 2x), [autotag]Grant Holloway[/autotag] (U.S. 2x), Genevieve LaCaze Gregson (AUS 4x), Adriana Leon (Canada 2x), Josh Liendo (Canada 2x), Alberto Mestre (Venezuela 2x), Alfonso Mestre (Venezuela 2x), Jasmine Moore (U.S. 2x), Deanne Rose (CAN 3x), Hakim Sani Brown (JAPAN 2x), [autotag]Kieran Smith[/autotag] (U.S. 2x) and Emma Weyant (U.S. 2x).

Gators are representing 21 different countries in Paris

Argentina (1), Austria (1), Australia (1), Bahamas (1), Canada (5), Colombia (1), Egypt (1), Germany (1), Great Britain (1), Greece (1), Jamaica (3), Japan (1), Jordan (1), Liberia (1), Lithuania (1), Netherlands (1), Nigeria (1), Norway (1), United States (14), U.S. Virgin Islands (1) and Venezuela (2).

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Every Team USA athlete looking to defend gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics

These Americans are back at the Olympics and looking for more gold.

With 39 gold medals at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, the United States led all nations for the third straight Summer Games since 2012.

Though the total was Team USA’s lowest gold medal count since 2008, make no mistake, it’s still the team to beat in many competitions entering the 2024 Paris Olympics. You need not look further than the returning medalists looking to defend their titles.

That doesn’t include gold medalists from previous Olympics (Simon Biles!), which we won’t get to here. But below is a look at the 2021 gold medalists back for more this summer.

Men’s basketball 5×5

Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
  • Bam Adebayo
  • Devin Booker
  • Kevin Durant
  • Jrue Holiday
  • Jayson Tatum

Women’s basketball 5×5

(Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
  • Napheesa Collier
  • Chelsea Gray
  • Brittney Griner
  • Jewell Loyd
  • Breanna Stewart
  • Diana Taurasi
  • A’ja Wilson

Canoe/kayak

  • Nevin Harrison (canoe sprint: women’s single 200m)

Cycling

  • Jennifer Valente (cycling track: women’s omnium)

Fencing

  • Lee Kiefer (women’s foil individual)

Golf

  • Nelly Korda
  • Xander Schauffele

Gymnastics

Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports
  • Jade Carey (artistic gymnastics: floor exercise)
  • Suni Lee (artistic gymnastics: women’s all-around)

Paratriathlon

  • Kendall Gretsch

Shooting

  • Vincent Hancock (men’s skeet)

Surfing

  • Carissa Moore

Swimming

(Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)
  • Caeleb Dressel (men’s 100m butterfly, 4x100m freestyle relay, 4x100m medley relay, 50m freestyle)
  • Bobby Finke (men’s 1500m freestyle, 800m freestyle)
  • Chase Kalisz (men’s 400m individual medley)
  • Katie Ledecky (women’s 1500m freestyle, 800m freestyle)
  • Ryan Murphy (men’s 4x100m medley relay)

Track & Field

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
  • Valarie Allman (women’s discus)
  • Rai Benjamin (men’s 4x400m relay)
  • Ryan Crouser (men’s shot put)
  • Bryce Deadmon (men’s 4x400m relay)
  • Kendall Ellis (women’s 4x400m relay)
  • Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone (women’s 4x400m relay, 400m hurdles)
  • Katie Moon (women’s pole vault)
  • Michael Norman (men’s 4x400m relay)
  • Vernon Norwood (men’s 4x400m relay)

Volleyball

Yukihito Taguchi-USA TODAY Sports
  • Annie Drews
  • Jordan Larson
  • Chiaka Ogbogu
  • Jordyn Poulter
  • Kelsey Robinson-Cook
  • Jordan Thompson
  • Haleigh Washington
  • Justine Wong Orantes

Water Polo

Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports
  • Rachel Fattal
  • Kaleigh Gilchrist
  • Ashleigh Johnson
  • Amanda Longan
  • Maddie Musselman
  • Maggie Steffens

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