Dressel Rises to Occasion in Stunning Performance

Caeleb Dressel made a splash even by his lofty standards Thursday night at the NCAA Championships, becoming the first person to finish the 50-yard free in less than 18 seconds. (Photo: Tim Casey/UAA Communications)

Dressel Rises to Occasion in Stunning Performance

Friday, March 23, 2018 | Men's Swimming & Diving, Scott Carter

Gators senior Caeleb Dressel not only became the first male to win the 50-yard free national title four times, he blew away the field.

By: Scott Carter, Senior Writer

MINNEAPOLIS – The crowd that stuffed inside the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center an hour earlier had dissipated. Most of those who remained had official duties to complete as a handful of swimmers splashed around in the cool-down pool.

Christina and Michael Dressel, the parents of Gators All-American Caeleb Dressel, remained in the empty stands. They stood and watched as their 21-year-old son peeled off another day's work that prompted not one, but two standing ovations and sent a charge through the crowd here at the NCAA men's swimming and diving championships on Thursday night.

"I still can't believe that," Christina Dressel said once, then again in case no one heard her. "I was hoping for a 17.99. He must have set a goal and went after it."

In the evening's most anticipated race, the 50-yard freestyle, Dressel stepped onto the pool deck with a chance to do something no other male had done in history: win four consecutive national titles in the event.

Dressel had already dazzled during the day. Twice, in fact.

First, in the 50-free preliminary, Dressel earned the top seed by finishing in 18.11 seconds, breaking his own American and NCAA record (18.20) set two years ago in Atlanta at the NCAA Finals. Oh, but there was more. Dressel was just getting started.

In the first event of Thursday night's finals, Dressel swam the opening leg on the Gators' 200-free relay team. He did something no one had ever done in the history of the sport: swim the 50 free in less than 18 seconds.

Dressel eclipsed the American and NCAA record he had set just hours earlier with a 17.81, which set the stage for the Gators to claim their first 200 free relay national title in school history. By the time Dressel prepared to swim the individual 50 free later in the evening, the crowd buzzed in anticipation.

Dressel lived up to the hype and more, blowing away the field with a 17.63, which was more than a second better than runner-up Ryan Held of North Carolina State. In a about eight hours Thursday, Dressel shaved a remarkable .57 seconds off his previous record in the 50 free.

Dressel jumped into the pool with a specific goal in mind in the final 50 free of his collegiate career.

"I was looking forward to this race for a while. I know everybody in the world of swimming probably expected 17.9, but I don't really care about other people's expectations. I want to set my own,'' he said. "That's where 17.6 came from. Just a number that popped in my head and I thought it was possible."

Few others did, but Dressel proved everyone wrong with a stunning performance that made "SportsCenter."

Before today, no person had ever swam the 50 free in under 18 seconds.

Florida's Caeleb Dressel just did it TWICE! (17.81, 17.63) pic.twitter.com/JbJlfpij23
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) March 23, 2018

Former UF All-American and six-time Olympic gold medalist Ryan Lochte watched from the Florida fan section. Lochte has trained with Dressel and they were both members of the U.S. Olympic Team at the 2016 Rio Summer Games.

Lochte sensed Dressel was primed for a memorable meet.

"It's not a shock. He's incredible,'' Lochte said. "He is the next 'you name it.' He is the face of swimming from now on."

Dressel's two national championships Thursday gave him eight for his career, eclipsing Lochte's school-record of seven.

Florida head coach Gregg Troy, like Lochte, was not surprised by Dressel's dominant performance. Dressel made it look easy, too, bursting off the blocks and charging to a lead from start to finish.

Troy watched as Dressel got better and better throughout his events, correcting small technical details to gain speed with each swim.

"He's done a really good job training," Troy said. "He's kind of a unique combination of a very talented, gifted athlete naturally, works tremendously hard in the weight room. Probably does a little more actual training than some other sprinters, so when he gets to the end, he's got a little more gas left. And then as he starts to go faster, he learns real quick. He made a lot of corrections just from the morning to the evening.

"By the time he got to that last one, he didn't do too much wrong."

Dressel's historic performance is the latest milestone for the senior from Green Cove Springs, Fla. He won seven gold medals at last summer's World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, tying the record set by Michael Phelps 10 years earlier.

He teamed with Phelps, Held and Nathan Adrian to win a relay gold in the Rio Olympics. Held finished second in Thursday's 50 free, a full second (18.64) behind Dressel, just another example of how dominant Dressel has become in the sport's all-out sprint race.

"I mean, just jaw-dropping,'' Gators teammate Jan Switkowski said. "Just seeing everyone in the stands, they just didn't know what's going on. Amazing."

Dressel warmed up by teaming with Switkowski, Enzo Martinez-Scarpe and Mark Szaranek to win the 200-free relay with a school record of 1:14.39. When his 17.81 split posted on the large video aboard above the pool, the crowd roared in shocking fashion.

Still, he saved the best for last.

"I just wanted to step off and have fun with it,'' Dressel said of the 50-free final. "I think there needs to be a fine line between goal-setting and laughter. I don't think you should sell yourself short. I think at this meet, 17.6 was a perfect swim. There's still room to improve. I got one of my goal times. I wasn't focused on 17.9. I was focused on 17.6. I just thought that was what was possible, so I just went with it. Maybe I lied to myself, but it worked."

There is no secret to Dressel's emergence as the sport's next great star in Lochte's view.

"You've just got to be focused," Lochte said. "He goes and gives it his all on a daily basis. I watch him, how he trains and everything. He is committed. He's a phenom."

Perhaps with some time, his mother will finally believe what everyone saw Thursday night.