Caeleb Dressel Easily Leads 100 Butterfly Qualifying as Duel With Kristof Milak Awaits

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World Swimming Championships (Kristof Milak and Caeleb Dressel)

Gwangju 2019

Day Six Heats (Men’s 100 Butterfly)

Prior to the World Championships, much of the hype surrounding the 100 butterfly was Caeleb Dressel’s pursuit of the world record in the event. Now, the 100 fly is about the American vs. Hungarian Kristof Milak, along with the chase for Michael Phelps’ global standard of 49.82, which has stood on the books since the supersuit circus of 2009.

Dressel remained the favorite for the gold medal following a sterling effort of 50.28 during the last of nine heats. Dressel bolted to front of the field and looked smooth throughout his two laps to head into the semifinals more than a second clear of Milak (51.42), the No. 2 qualifier for the semifinals. The race was the first of two for Dressel in the morning, as he had the 50 freestyle later in the session.

The 100 fly is the perfect meeting point for Dressel, who won the 50 fly in American-record time, and the 19-year-old Milak, who shattered Phelps’ world record in the 200 fly with a mark of 1:50.73. They are two of the sport’s young stars and two years ago, at the World Champs in Budapest, went gold-silver in the 100 fly.

Russia’s Andrei Minakov qualified third in 51.54, with two-time world champion Chad Le Clos of South Africa slotting into the No. 4 position at 51.65. France’s Mehdy Metella (51.65) and Brazil’s Vinicius Lanza (51.83) were fifth and sixth, followed by Hungarian veteran Laszlo Cseh (51.88). Cseh is a two-time medalist in the event at Worlds.

Joseph Schooling, the reigning Olympic champion from Singapore, was well of the pace as he delivered a time of 52.93, good for a tie for 24th place. Meanwhile, Italy’s Piero Codia was even slower, going 53.09 for 26th.

Semifinalists

1. Caeleb Dressel, United States 50.28
2. Kristof Milak, Hungary 51.42
3. Andrei Minakov, Russia 51.54
4. Chad Le Clos, South Africa 51.58
5. Mehdy Metella, France 51.65
6. Vinicius Lanza, Brazil 51.83
7. Laszlo Cseh, Hungary 51.88
8. Matthew Temple, Australia 51.89
9. Jack Conger, United States 51.96
10. Marius Kusch, Germany 52.05
11. James Guy, Great Britain 52.06
12. Naoki Mizunuma, Japan 52.23
13. Tomer Frankel, Israel 52.36
14. Li Zhuhao, China 52.44
14. Yauhen Tsurkin, Belarus 52.44
14. David Morgan, Australia 52.44

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Thomas A. Small
4 years ago

Congratulations

Eney Jones
4 years ago

Why not us a photo of Caeleb to match the headline?

Lise Bailey
4 years ago
Reply to  Eney Jones

I agree!

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