Dressel sets 2 short-course world records

CAELEB DRESSEL set a pair of shortcourse world records Saturday at the International Swimming League final in Budapest, Hungary.

Expected to be one of the top stars at next summer’s Tokyo Olympics, Dressel became the first swimmer to eclipse 48 seconds in the 100- meter butterfly, touching with a time of 47.78.

About 40 minutes later, Dressel took won the 50 freestyle in 20.16, beating his own shortcourse record by 0.08.

In the 100 fly, the 24-year- old Florida native broke the mark of 48.08 set by South Africa’s Chad Le Clos at 2016 Short Course World Championships. Le Clos finished second in Saturday’s race at Duna Arena in 48.45.

Dressel also holds the long- course record in the 100 fly with a time of 49.50 at last summer’s world championships in Gwangju, South Korea.

Dressel won two relay golds at the 2016 Rio Olympics and has blossomed into one of the sport’s biggest stars since, winning a total of 13 golds medals and two silvers at the last two world championships in the 50-meter pool.

World long jump champion Malaika Mihambo of Germany, meanwhile, wants to double up with the 100 meters at the Tokyo Olympics next summer.

Mihambo won the world long jump title in Doha last year with a leap of 7 meters 30 centimeters. That was the 12th- best women’s outdoor mark in history and best since 2016.

“That’s definitely the plan for next year. I’ve noticed that I really like sprinting,” Mihambo told German news magazine Der Spiegel in an interview published Saturday, but said it would be tough to establish herself as a sprinter.

“In the long jump I’m at the top nationally and alone at my level. In the sprints there are, however, a lot of good girls. And internationally the best in the world are still a long way off.”

The 26-year- old Mihambo has sprinted occasionally during her career and set a personal best of 11.21 seconds in the 100 last year. She’s previously considered aiming for a spot in Germany’s 4x100 relay team.