Dressel wins 100m fly to book berth at Pan Pacs
irvine — Caeleb Dressel finally bagged his first victory of the US Swimming Championships on Friday, powering home to win the 100m butterfly in 50.50sec and punch his ticket to the Pan Pacific Championships.
Dressel, who joined Michael Phelps as the only swimmers to win seven titles at a single World Championships with a stunning campaign in Budapest last year, also set himself up for next year’s Worlds in South Korea, with this meet and Pan Pacs serving as qualifiers for the biggest international meeting before the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
The 21-year-old, who signed his first professional sponsorship deal with Speedo this month after departing the amateur US collegiate ranks, had endured a frustrating start to the championships in Irvine, south of Los Angeles.
Sixth in the 100m freestyle on Wednesday, he scratched the 200m free and finished second in the 50m butterfly — not good enough to send him to Pan Pacs or Worlds.
“I don’t know if nervous or anxious is the correct word to use, just excited,” he said of his state of mind heading into the 100m fly.
After finishing in front of Jack Conger (51.11) and Michael Andrew (51.68), he was still excited: “Excited to make the team.”
Dressel said the 100m free was “just a really bad swim” and even said it was “refreshing” after the non-stop winning of last year. All in all, Dressel said, there was no need to panic, or even worry. “I did what I needed to do and right now we’re on the team,” he said. “That’s what this meet is for. There’s a lot left in the tank.”