Dressel romps in fly
World-record holder dominates field at Olympic qualifier
The stars shined brightly on the next-to-last night of the U.S. Olympic swimming trials.
Caeleb Dressel added another event to his Tokyo program, scoring a dominating win in the 100-meter butterfly Saturday.
Katie Ledecky blew away the field in the 800 freestyle, winning by more than 5 seconds in a race where the runner-up spot provided the only drama.
Ledecky locked up her fourth individual race at the Olympics with a time of 8 minutes, 14.62, adding to her victories in the 200, 400 and 1,500 free.
Fifteen-year-old Katie Grimes outraced veteran Haley Anderson for the expected second spot at the Olympics, knocking more than 11 seconds off her personal best to touch second in 8:20.36. Anderson, who already made the team in marathon swimming, just missed out. She finished third, 15-hundredths of a second behind the youngster.
No one was even close to Dressel as he finished the fly in 49.87 — just off his world record of 49.50 set two years ago at the world championships in Gwangju, South Korea.
Tom Shields claimed the expected second spot on the U.S. team by touching next in 51.19.
Dressel, who already made the Olympic team with a victory in the 100 freestyle, made it 2-for-2 when he returned a short time later to win his heat in the semifinals of the 50 free.
Dressel is hoping to swim three individuals events in Tokyo and perhaps all four relays, giving him a chance to join Michael Phelps, Mark Spitz and Matt Biondi as the only swimmers to win seven swimming medals at the Olympics.