After a flurry of splashing, measuring from one end of the pool to the next, Dressel poked his head out of the water, turned to the scoreboard and punctuated his stellar 50-meter freestyle with a fist pump. The performance provided the biggest sign yet that Dressel — the version who essentially established a second home atop the medals podium for years — might actually be back. His winning time of 21.41 seconds was his fastest since the Tokyo Games.
“I’m happy putting up some times I haven’t put up in a really long time,” he said. “And we’re going to get faster, too, so excited about that.”
Dressel’s journey since Tokyo has been precarious, and for a while, it wasn’t clear whether he would ever step onto a medal podium again. At times, it wasn’t even clear whether he would get back in the pool. Dressel withdrew from the 2022 world championships for what was later revealed to be a mental health episode. He then took an eight-month break from the sport before embarking on an arduous return in early 2023.
Barely four months later, at the U.S. trials ahead of the 2023 world championships, Dressel failed to qualify in any of his four races. He didn’t even make the final in two of them.
One year later, now 27, he has shown that while he might not be considered a medal lock, he could be a contender in Paris.
“He’s come a long way mentally, physically. I am not surprised he’s at this point now compared to where he was before,” Anthony Nesty, Dressel’s Florida coach who will also coach the men’s swim team in Paris, said in a recent interview. “It’s a credit to him because he spent a lot of time getting himself right.”
“Looking back, at the time, seeing where he was last summer at trials to now, it’s night and day.”
Dressel smiled Friday night as he met with reporters for the first time at these trials. He has loved the racing and raved about the pool and crowd at Lucas Oil Stadium. But he made clear that none of this is easy.
“It takes a lot of work, and there’s parts of this meet — I’ve had some really low lows,” he said.
“There’s parts, at my hotel room, not on camera, talking to my wife, talking to my therapist. It has not been smooth sailing this whole meet. I know y’all get to see the smile. And I’m working on it. I’m trying to find those moments and just relish them.”
The 50 free is an event that Dressel has consistently made look easy. He owns the third-fastest time in history and three of the top six times ever. But those marks were all from 2021 or earlier. Heading into these trials, Dressel’s best 50 free time this season was a 21.84 from March — 38th best in world this year. Only three swimmers this year have topped the 21.41 mark he posted Friday night.
Chris Guiliano was the second swimmer to touch the wall, finishing in 21.69. That means the 20-year old Notre Dame product qualified for Paris in the 50, 100 and 200 free, making him the first American male to qualify in all three events since Matt Biondi in 1988.
Barely 30 minutes after Dressel won the 50 free, he was back in the pool, stepping onto the block for the semifinal of the 100-meter butterfly, his most dominant event. At his peak, Dressel was without peer in the race. He set the world record at the Tokyo Olympics (49.45) and has posted eight of the top 10 times ever. Even after that taxing 50 free, he still had plenty of speed stored up and won his semifinal heat in 50.79, his fastest time since he set the record in 2021. It was also the top semifinal time here, with the final scheduled for Saturday night.
“I’m not going best times. I haven’t gone a single best time. But when I’m walking out, feeling the love from everyone, it’s really special,” he said. “That’s not something I thought I would realize at this meet.”
If he wins Saturday’s final, Dressel could be in pursuit of at least four medals in Paris. While he missed qualifying individually for the 100-meter freestyle, he will be a part of the 4×100 freestyle relay team. A win Saturday probably would earn him a spot on 4×100 medley relay as well.
“This is a true test. This is a really big test,” he said of these trials. “I feel like I’ve performed really well.”
How Dressel performs in Paris will play a large role in whether the United States can top Australia, which won more gold medals than the Americans at last year’s world championships. He will certainly have plenty of help there, based on Saturday’s times from veteran medalists and some new faces.
Regan Smith set a world record in the 100-meter backstroke Tuesday and threatened to take down the 200-meter mark Friday. She was nearly 0.3 seconds ahead of the world mark at the last turn but ran out of gas on her final lap. Still, she finished with a time of 2:05.16, a full second ahead of second-place Phoebe Bacon, the 21-year-old from Chevy Chase who punched a ticket to her second Olympics with a time of 2:06.27.
“The rest of the world better be scared of us,” Bacon said. “We will be coming in fighting, and we don’t like to lose.”
Heady words considering the Aussies will be again trotting out the mighty Kaylee McKeown, the world record holder who won gold in both the 100 and 200 backstroke at the Tokyo Games.
In the men’s 200-meter individual medley Friday, Carson Foster won with a time of 1:55.65, nipping Shaine Casas at the wall 1:55.83. Both swimmers will be making their Olympic debuts. At the U.S. trials in 2021, the 22-year old Foster finished third in the 400 IM, just a half-second away from a ticket to Tokyo.
But Dressel was the star of the show Friday, as he has been since the 2017 world championships, where he won seven gold medals and became the face of the U.S. men’s team. He’s older now, but the goals are mostly the same.
“Early on in my career it was how long can I be dominant,” he said. “That’s still a little bit of my mind-set. But I think it’s switching a little bit to: What can I show this younger generation?”
Dave Sheinin contributed to this report.
