Dressel’s haul brings Phelps comparisons
GWANGJU, South Korea — Once again, Caeleb Dressel stepped atop the medals podium, his blonde locks swept to one side. The 22year-old swimmer accepted another gold medal and pumped his hands in the air. The anthem played.
It’s a familiar, recurring scene, one that the swimming world will likely see a lot more of these next 13 months. With Monday’s win in the 50-meter butterfly, Dressel secured his second gold medal of these FINA World Championships. He has a chance here to break the record of seven titles at a single world championships. Dressel, in fact, could win as many as nine events in Gwangju, which already stirred speculation that he ultimately could aim at one of swimming’s most hallowed marks at next summer’s Tokyo Games: Michael Phelps’ eight gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Games.
And yet Dressel, thoughtful and introspective, has zero interest in contemplating record books or making history.
“I don’t come to meets to count medals,” he said Monday night. “It’s not what I do. It’s just not really for me. If it was me in the water and my coach, I’d be totally happy with that. And nothing else.”
For now, the rest of the swimming world, however, can enjoy the speculation and what-ifs. Each time Dressel dives into the pool, he seems to further stoke the possibilities. Monday’s race might have been his biggest obstacle in Gwangju. He won seven world titles two years ago but had finished fourth in the 50 fly in Budapest.
“A lot of people have reminded me that I didn’t win this in ‘17,” he joked Monday night.
Dressel crushed the field in Gwangju, posting the second-fastest time in history — 22.35 seconds — and setting a U.S. record. The win marked the first time an American swimmer had ever won the event at a world championships.
While that distance isn’t offered at the Olympics, Dressel’s other core events are — including the 100 fly and the 50 and 100 freestyle races — which means there’s a chance he’ll pursue seven or eight in Tokyo.
The Phelps comparisons are inevitable, but they aren’t perfect. Dressel’s program would be markedly different from what Phelps did in 2008. Phelps won five individual titles in Beijing, whereas Dressel would likely only be targeting three or four, plus as many as four relays. One of the relays Dressel might swim there is a mixedgender event that will be staged for the first time in Tokyo. If he wants to take aim at eight, Dressel would likely have to add an individual race like the 200 free.
“If you’re talking about maybe eight medals, on paper it’s similar,” says Nathan Adrian, the fivetime Olympic gold medalist who has won relay medals teaming with both swimmers. “But from a personality standpoint, what he’s swimming and who he is as a person, he’s definitely not trying to be Michael.”
Phelps was hyper-focused and hypercompetitive, a rare talent who always had his eyes on making history and often found himself immersed in a bubble of sorts. Dressel is a bit more introspective about his mission in and out of the pool.
“For me, it’s just kind of a chase for self-improvement in and out of the water. That’s why I do enjoy the sport,” he said. “You’re never going to reach perfection in the sport unless you’re hitting zero seconds, which is literally impossible.”
After his breakout performance in 2017, his times suffered last year. After those seven golds at the world championships, he had just two at last year’s Pan Pacific championships, only one of which came in an individual event. Dressel later revealed that he’d been involved in a motorcycle accident that interfered with his training. But he was also adjusting to life as a professional, having wrapped up his University of Florida career in spring 2018.
“In my experiences, as athletes finish up their senior year and make that transition to a professional athlete, there’s challenges,” said U.S. men’s coach Dave Durden, who coaches the men’s team at the University of California. “There’s hurdles, hoops and pressures. So it takes a little while to get comfortable a lot of times.”
This season —- and this week especially — Dressel looks as comfortable in the pool as any American swimmer. He has a dizzying few days ahead of him and in all will likely race 16 times here in Gwangju, between heats, semifinals and finals — maybe 17 times if he takes aim at a ninth event and joins the 4x200 freestyle relay team.
That means fans can expect to see him up on the podium several more times.
“It doesn’t get old,” he said. “I hope the feeling of standing up on the podium winning gold will never get old.”
One swimmer who knows a lot about winning gold is Katie Ledecky.
The 14-time world champion withdrew from the 200-meter freestyle preliminaries and the 1,500-meter final Tuesday because of illness.
Her coach Greg Meehan said doctors were assessing Ledecky but had no official diagnosis.
“She woke up this morning and she’s not feeling well at all,” he said. “I’m hopeful that we see her racing again this week.”
The meet ends Sunday.