{"id":321747,"date":"2018-07-28T07:25:14","date_gmt":"2018-07-28T14:25:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=321747"},"modified":"2018-07-28T10:18:02","modified_gmt":"2018-07-28T17:18:02","slug":"under-pressure-caeleb-dressel-shrugs-it-off-and-takes-care-of-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/under-pressure-caeleb-dressel-shrugs-it-off-and-takes-care-of-business\/","title":{"rendered":"Under Pressure? Caeleb Dressel Shrugs It Off and Takes Care of Business"},"content":{"rendered":"

By David Rieder.<\/em><\/p>\n

The panicked whispers of swimmers, coaches and officials grew louder: What was wrong with Caeleb<\/strong> Dressel<\/strong>? In the aftermath of a shocking and almost surreal sixth-place finish in the 100 free to open his week at U.S. Nationals, Dressel was touched out by Michael Andrew<\/strong> in the 50 fly and then qualified fourth for the 100 fly final, his time of 52.00 more than two seconds off his lifetime best.<\/p>\n

But when the moment came in the final, Dressel was Dressel, and order was restored. The unbeatable aura was back as the 21-year-old powered his way home in 26.64, almost a half-second quicker than any of his competitors. He finished in 50.50, winning by six tenths of a second.<\/p>\n

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Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick<\/p><\/div>\n

So after all the hoopla, no long-term damage. His spot at the Pan Pacific Championships secured, Dressel can swim any event he wants when he gets to Tokyo in two weeks, including the 100 free.<\/p>\n

Still, there had been a two-day period when doubt crept in\u2014what if he didn\u2019t get the Pan Pacs opportunity to redeem himself? At this point in the meet, only two swimmers per event are guaranteed spots in Tokyo, and if he was as far off his best form as a 48.50 100 free indicates, maybe he would have trouble in the 100 fly and 50 free as well.<\/p>\n

So what did happen Wednesday night, when Dressel was an astounding 1.33 seconds off his own American record?<\/p>\n

\u201cJust a bad swim,\u201d Dressel said. \u201cYou can\u2019t avoid it in the sport. I\u2019ve had a couple of good meets back to back, so it\u2019s kind of refreshing to have just a really bad swim.\u201d<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He wouldn\u2019t put the blame on looking past Nationals and focusing his preparation for Pan Pacs\u2014although Gregg<\/strong> Troy<\/strong>, Dressel\u2019s coach, emphasized that \u201cthere\u2019s plenty left.\u201d As for the possibility that the transition to professional swimming took away from his training, Dressel conceded that, yes, he had been really busy.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was stressful\u2014I hate to use that word because I feel like I manage my time really well and I feel like I handle stress very well,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t want to say anything has changed, but it definitely affected me, I think more than I know. Troy is probably going to tell you that if you interview him. He thinks it affected me a lot more than I think I did. He\u2019s probably right.\u201d<\/p>\n

Troy commended the manner in which Dressel handled the tough transition, but he did add this: \u201cHe shoulders a lot of the burden himself. It weighed on him just a little bit.\u201d<\/p>\n

===<\/p>\n

During his two days of waiting, Dressel spoke with Brendan<\/strong> Hansen<\/strong>, who made three Olympic teams during his career as one of the world\u2019s best breaststrokers. Hansen\u2019s advice: Just take it stroke by stroke. But Dressel was never worried\u2014that\u2019s not the right word for how he felt, he said. Yes, he was surprised by his 100 free, and yes, he felt pressure\u2014in fact, he embraced it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do enjoy the pressure,\u201d Dressel said. \u201cI understand what comes with the sport and makes it fun and exciting. I know what\u2019s on the line. I\u2019m setting up the next two years with a race that lasted 50 seconds. I do enjoy that, and I didn\u2019t want to crumble under that.\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

For the average swimmer, one bad swim could derail an entire meet. The task of picking up the pieces after a race-gone-wrong can be extremely challenging, and the good swimmers are the ones who succeed<\/p>\n

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Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick<\/p><\/div>\n

But Dressel is not just a good swimmer\u2014he\u2019s exceptional, perhaps crafting the foundations of an all-time great career. We\u2019ve seen some of the signs: The brute force of his start and underwater kicks, his desire for more and more volume in training and his willingness to take on events outside his typical specialties.<\/p>\n

In Irvine, we saw another sign: After one race that was \u201cabsolutely horrible,\u201d he shrugged it off and called the deviation from his usual success \u201crefreshing.\u201d Then, he thrived under especially tense circumstances in the 100 fly.<\/p>\n

And as is par for the course for any great swimmer, he wasn\u2019t totally satisfied with a swim slower than his lifetime best, the 49.86 near-world record from last year\u2019s Worlds. Alas, 50.50 was merely the 15th-quickest effort in history, a time only five other men have ever surpassed. It\u2019s also substantially faster than his winning time from last year\u2019s Nationals (50.87).<\/p>\n

The hunch here is that two weeks from now at Pan Pacs, Dressel will show off some of the form that won him seven gold medals at the World Championships in Budapest. He will take runs at the three individual world records that barely eluded him last year. Even if he comes up short, he will again stamp his case as the best swimmer in the world.<\/p>\n

Dispensing with the pressure and firing off a swim like this 50.50 100 fly? That\u2019s pretty darn impressive, too.<\/p>\n

Video Interview with Caeleb Dressel:<\/strong><\/h3>\n