Caeleb Dressel isn't the same swimmer he was in Tokyo but has embraced a new perspective

NANTERRE, France — Caeleb Dressel, the American swimming superstar of the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, stood bare-chested, just off the pool deck, earnestly trying to put into words what had just happened to him over 45 minutes Friday night at the Paris Olympics.

“I’d like to be performing better,” he said. “I’m not. I trained to go faster than the times I’m going. I know that so, yeah, it’s tough, a little heartbreaking, a little heartbreaking for sure.”

In the final of the men’s 50 freestyle, an event in which he set the Olympic record in winning the gold medal at the last Olympics, Dressel finished a disappointing sixth. His time of 21.61 seconds was well off the 21.07 he swam three years ago, and also slower than the 21.41 he swam at the U.S. trials in June. 

He soon was back in the pool for the semifinals of the 100 butterfly, another event he dominated in Tokyo, setting the world record while winning another of his five gold medals at those Games.

He finished fifth in his heat. He ended up 13th overall. Only the top eight made Saturday’s final. He was out. His time Friday night of 51.57 seconds was nearly half a second too slow for eighth place. And it was extremely slow for him; Dressel swam 49.45 seconds in Tokyo and 50.19 seconds at the U.S. trials six weeks ago.

“Very obviously not my best work,” he said. “I had a real lot of fun though, I can honestly say that. It hasn’t been my best week, I don’t need to shy away from that. The racing’s been really fun here. Walking out for that 50, 100 fly, it’s special, I don’t want to forget that. I’d like to be quicker, obviously, yeah, not my week, that’s alright.”

Dressel, 27, who has taken time away from his sport and spoken openly about his struggles with the pressures and mental health challenges he has faced, said no matter how grueling the evening had been, he was finding happiness in it. 

“Just seeing the moment for what it is instead of relying on just the times,” he said. “I mean, that’s a good bit off my best, good bit off my best right there and it felt like it. I think just actually enjoying the moment, I’m at the Olympic Games, I won’t forget that.”

The year after the Tokyo Olympics, Dressel pulled out halfway through the 2022 world championships and didn’t swim for eight months. He came back for the 2023 U.S. world championship trials but failed to make the team. 

“There’s so much pressure in one moment, your whole life boils down to a moment that can take 20, 40 seconds,” Dressel said at those trials. “How crazy is that? For an event that happens every four years. I wouldn’t tell myself this during the meet, but after the meet, looking back, I mean, it’s terrifying.

“The easiest way to put it, my body kept score. There’s a lot of things I shoved down and all came boiling up, so I didn’t really have a choice. I used to pride myself on being able to shove things down and push it aside and plow through it. It worked for a very long time in my career. I got results from 17, 19, 21, until I couldn’t do that anymore. So it was a very strange feeling. … It wasn’t just one thing where I was like I need to step away, it was a bunch of things that kind of came crumbling down at once and I knew that was my red flag right there, multiple red flags, there was a giant red flag.”

Because he has been so open about his struggles, he was asked if he thought he would have been able to be having fun while swimming these times were it not for the work he has done since Tokyo. 

“Nope, I wouldn’t be at this meet,” he said. “I probably would have been done swimming a long time ago to be honest. Still a work in progress, still have hopeful years ahead of me looking forward to, but a lot went into this just to be here.”

That said, all was not lost. Dressel won a gold medal with the U.S. men’s 4 x 100 freestyle relay last weekend, swam the prelims for the U.S. mixed medley relay that qualified fastest for the final and will swim in the men’s medley relay this weekend. 

“Tough day, tough day at the office,” he said. “That’s alright, let’s get ready for the relay.”