Caeleb Dressel Pulls Off Come-From-Behind National Title in 100 Freestyle
Since competing in his third Olympics in Paris, Caeleb Dressel has maintained a relatively low profile in swimming. He has competed in many national events but did not attempt to qualify for last year’s World Championships. This season, he moved his training base to reunite with former coach Steve Jungbluth and recorded solid-but-not-spectacular times throughout.
That all changed on day one at U.S. Nationals in Irvine, Calif., as Dressel swam his fastest 100 freestyle time in more than two years in prelims. His 47.98 was two-thirds of a second better than his previous season-best of 48.65, quicker than he had gone since going 47.53 at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials, and it made him the fourth seed entering the final.
At night, Dressel would take his speed up one more notch. Dressel got off to his usual powerful start and flipped second at the halfway point, his 22.54 behind just Brooks Curry at 22.26. Off the turn, Dressel held his speed and pulled slightly ahead of Curry. He reached for the wall in 47.70, a quarter-second better than he swam in prelims and good for a tie for No. 8 in the world rankings.
At the finish, an ecstatic Dressel raised his arms in celebration, sat on the adjacent lane line and screamed upward.
“I haven’t seen a ‘1’ next to my name in a long time. It feels good. I love this sport so much. It feels good to be back swimming, enjoying myself,” Dressel told NBC Sports after the race. “I’ve had to relearn quite a bit. As Steve likes to say, ‘Learn to drive the car.’ I’m pretty good at driving the car, and I’m getting back to what some of my roots are. Not the fastest time, but before the race, I told Steve to shut up and let’s just go race.”
There could be more of that to come this week. Dressel has routinely posted stronger results in the 50 and 100 butterfly as well as the 50 free, and those events will take place over the coming days in Irvine. The butterfly races should bring clashes with Ilya Kharun, who won bronze in the 100 fly at the Paris Olympics and last year’s World Championships.
Curry placed second in 47.81, three tenths behind his season-best of 47.51 that ranks fourth in the world. Patrick Sammon placed fourth in 47.87 with Maximus Williamson also sub-48 with his 47.99, showing off continued American depth in the 100 free. Notably, American-record holder Jack Alexy ended up seventh in 48.62. Alexy was competing with a full beard as he prepares to race at the Pan Pacific Championships in two weeks.
