Caeleb Dressel Misses Out on 100m Freestyle Title at U.S. Olympic Trials
The American Olympic selections once again proved their ruthlessness on Wednesday, by depriving Caeleb Dressel of the 100m freestyle title at the Paris Games this summer, by six hundredths of a second on Wednesday in Indianapolis. The seven-time Olympic champion took 3rd place in the event in 47 sec 53, behind Chris Guiliano (47.38) and Jack Alexy (47.47), who took the two individual tickets.
Dressel, however, did not lose everything as he secured a place in the 4x100m freestyle relay, and proved that he was back among the best swimmers in the world, after three chaotic years. “It’s incredibly fast, this top-6 under 48 seconds, it’s super fast, fantastic,” he said about the final, smiling into the microphone of the NBC broadcaster.
Other Key Performances at the U.S. Olympic Trials
After his triumph in Tokyo (5 titles), Dressel experienced breaks of several months outside the pools, withdrew from the World Championships in Budapest in 2022 before failing to qualify for those in Fukuoka in 2023. The 27-year-old American can still hope to qualify individually for Paris in the 50m freestyle and 100m butterfly, two events in which he is also the reigning Olympic champion.
The women's 100m freestyle saw the victory of Kate Douglass, 14 times world medalist, and bronze in the 200m medley in Tokyo in 2021, in 52 sec 56 ahead of Torri Huske (52.93). After the 400 m and the 200 m, which she will not swim in Paris, the legend with seven Olympic titles Katie Ledecky, including the first in the 800 m in London in 2012 at the age of 15, easily won the 1500 m freestyle, in which she is the Olympic title holder, in 15 min 37 sec 35.
Thomas Heilman won the 200m butterfly (1:54.50) and Matt Fallon won the 200m breaststroke in a US record (2:06.54).
- Caeleb Dressel will not defend his 100-meter freestyle title at next month's Paris Games after finishing third in a storming final at the U.S. Olympic swimming trials in Indianapolis.
- The race was won by Chris Guiliano. Jack Alexy came second. However, Dressel has secured his third Olympics in the 4x100 free relay and has two more individual events scheduled this week.
