Dressel Had More Than Enough to Cap NCAA Finals in Style

Caeleb Dressel reacts after winning the 100-yard freestyle national title on Saturday night in Atlanta. (Photo: Shelby Granath/UAA)

Dressel Had More Than Enough to Cap NCAA Finals in Style

Sunday, March 27, 2016 | Men's Swimming & Diving, Scott Carter

The UF sophomore added a 100-yard free title to his 50-free crown

By: Scott Carter, Senior Writer

ATLANTA -- What did he have left?

As Gators sophomore swimmer Caeleb Dressel prepared to jump into the pool here at the NCAA Championships on Saturday night for his final individual event, he knew it was going to take something extra to win the 100-yard freestyle.

Also in the field was was Alabama's Kristian Gkolomeev, the defending 100 free national champion. North Carolina State's Simonas Bilis, who earlier in the day edged Dressel in the 100-free preliminaries, was in the lane next to him.

Less than a half hour before he was set to race, Dressel received a boost from an unexpected source: a duel to the finish in the 1,650 free between South Carolina's Akaram Mahmoud and Penn's Chris Swanson. Mahmoud appeared to have the race won until Swanson closed with a spectacular final 50 yards of 24.38 seconds to overtake Mahmoud in the closest finish (14:31.54 to 14:31.66) in the race's history.

The race brought the crowd at the McAuley Aquatic Center to its feet and got Dressel's blood pumping as a fan.

"I just kind of relied on my teammates for energy,'' he said. "That was the most exciting mile I've ever watched. That was amazing. This meet is awesome. It's just nice to run off the energy from that."

Soon, the crowd was back on its feet for Dressel.

He had plenty left in the tank.

Dressel, who set American and NCAA records on Thursday night with an 18.20-second performance to win the 50-free national title, shot from the springboard and quickly established a lead over Bilis and Gkolomeev.

They never had a chance.

Dressel blasted his way into the record books with a time of 40.46, establishing American, NCAA and U.S. Open records in the 100-yard free. His went out in 19.23 seconds and never let up.

"There's always some of those races when you look up at the board and you are very, very surprised,'' Dressel said of his time. "That was one of them. I had to pull that out of somewhere for tonight."

Dressel was a workhorse all week, racing in multiple relays in addition to his individual events. Still, the 19-year-old from Green Cove Springs, Fla., saved perhaps his best for last to become the first UF men's swimmer to win multiple individual NCAA titles in the same season since Conor Dwyer in 2010.

Gators head coach Gregg Troy offered good advice prior to the race.

"Don't hold back the speed,'' he told Dressel. "Let it take you out."

Dressel listened and the Olympic hopeful is now a two-time American record holder and potentially one of the U.S. Team's top sprinters at this summer's Rio Olympics. Dressel was named Co-NCAA Swimmer of the Year at the conclusion of the meet along with Texas' Joseph Schooling and California's Ryan Murphy.

The three are former teammates on the Bolles Sharks club team in Jacksonville.

"It's awesome sharing it with those guys,'' he said. "I trained with those guys. I have such a high amount of respect for them. They are very inspirational to me."

Dressel's historic performance helped ease some of the disappointment from a year ago when he claimed the 50-free title but didn't even make the finals in the 100 free. During his senior year at Clay High, Dressel became disenchanted with life in the pool and took an extended break.

While he quickly made an impact as a freshman with the Gators, he wasn't at his best in his first NCAA Championships.

"Last year I dropped off very bad after the first day,'' he said. "I keep going back to the time I was out of water before I came to college. That's all that was. You can prove it this year. I was in the water. I didn't take time off.

"It just goes back to training. That's all it is. I just let my speed take me out and then training was the back half."

Troy sensed it could be a special week in Atlanta for Dressel, whose next major competition is expected to be the U.S. Olympic Trials in Omaha.

Dressel made headlines at the Southeastern Conference Championships last month when he won the 50 free in 18.23 seconds, which was the American record until Thursday when he set a new one.

"The consistency of how he's done it,'' Troy said of Dressel's recent surge. "We don't have the luxury of being real deep, so he had to swim every relay, morning and evening. I think that's a tribute to his hard work."

Dressel finished his sophomore season by swimming the opening leg on Florida's 400-yard free relay team. He opened fast to give the Gators an early lead, but N.C. State and Texas overcame them as Florida finished third.

The Gators placed third in the final team standings behind Texas and California.

As he finished up his media session after the meet, Dressel took a moment to look back -- and ahead.

"I certainly couldn't have done it off of physical ability tonight,'' he said. "You've got to rely on mental strength and your teammates and your family up in the stands. I'm going back to the hotel, eat some pizza, and then I want to get back in the water."

Turns out, Dressel had all the energy he needed to cap a memorable second season at Florida.