INDIANAPOLIS — Seven-time Olympic gold medalist Caeleb Dressel is headed to the Paris Olympics, qualifying Wednesday night by placing third inthe men’s 100-meter freestyle final in 47.53 seconds in Indianapolis.
Dressel will participate in the 4×100 freestyle relay in Paris since he did not finish in the top two in the 100-meter freestyle. He has not yet qualified in an individual event but still has chances to do so later this week in the 50-meter freestyle and the 100-meter butterfly.
Chris Guiliano (first), Jack Alexy (second) and Hunter Armstrong (fourth) rounded out the top four finishers in the 100 free, with each one qualifying for the 4×100 free relay in Paris.
DOWN TO THE WIRE IN INDY. 😱
The men’s 100m free final did NOT disappoint. #SwimTrials24 pic.twitter.com/LEfct2OQzS
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) June 20, 2024
Dressel took gold in the men’s 100-meter freestyle in Tokyo, where he also won gold medals in the 50-meter freestyle and the 100-meter butterfly. Dressel has also won gold as a member of the 4×100 freestyle relay and the men’s medley relay at both the Rio and Tokyo Games. Every medal he’s won at an Olympics so far has been gold.
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Still, Dressel is something of an enigma. He took an eight-month break from swimming from mid-2022 to early 2023, abruptly withdrawing from the 2022 world championship meet and disappearing from the spotlight. And at the 2023 U.S. national championships, he failed to qualify for the 2023 world championships, his best result merely a fourth-place finish in the 50-meter butterfly. He’s spoken about needing that time away from the sport and how it drew him back. In the past year, the 27-year-old has regained his physical and mental strength, seemingly returned to form and started to look the part of the face of American men’s swimming once again.
Earlier Wednesday night, fellow veteran swimmer and two-time Olympic gold medalist Simone Manuel qualified for the Paris Olympics, her third Games, as part of the 4×100 freestyle relay. She finished fourth, behind Kate Douglass, Torri Huske and Gretchen Walsh. The top four swimmers qualify for the relay.
“It means everything to me,” Manuel, 27, said, tearing up. “Truly, it’s a miracle that I’m even standing up here.”
Manuel, who was diagnosed with overtraining syndrome in the lead-up to Tokyo, said she was proud of herself for making the relay after all she’d been through the past few years after her body broke down. She said it took a long time to be cleared to return to the pool and train at full strength, giving her just 18 months to prepare for U.S. Olympic trials.
“Anybody who really knows my journey knows how hard it was,” Manuel said. “I basically started from ground zero to make, in my opinion, the best Olympic team ever in swimming. … This definitely wasn’t the result I wanted, but when I really think about how far I’ve come and the mountain I really had to climb.
“I think that it’s really important for me to look back and be proud of myself for continuing to fight through this process and believe in myself.”
Other Paris qualifiers on Wednesday included 17-year-old Thomas Heilman, who won the men’s 200-meter butterfly final. He is the youngest male swimmer to make the Olympic team this year.
It’s never too early to make your first Olympic team. 😤
Teenager Thomas Heilman is going to the #ParisOlympics. #SwimTrials24 pic.twitter.com/RrcnQF6gWY
— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) June 20, 2024
Wednesday’s finals session also set an attendance record for an indoor swim meet, with 22,209 fans at Lucas Oil Stadium, according to USA Swimming. The previous record was set on the first day of the event with a crowd of 20,689 at the venue, which also serves as the home of the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts.
The U.S. Olympic swimming trials at Lucas Oil Stadium drew a world record 22,209 fans Wednesday night.
It's the largest swimming event in 𝙝𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮.
H/T @USASwimming pic.twitter.com/nmtHREShcD
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) June 20, 2024
Required reading
- Gretchen Walsh destroys world record in women’s 100m fly at U.S. Olympic swim trials
- Lydia Jacoby, after surprise Tokyo Olympic gold, misses out on Paris: ‘It hasn’t quite hit me yet’
- Regan Smith reclaims world record in women’s 100m backstroke at U.S. Olympic swim trials
- Regan Smith is back atop the backstroke, just in time for the Olympics
(Photo: Al Bello / Getty Images)
Nicole Auerbach covers college football and college basketball for The Athletic. A leading voice in college sports, she also serves as a studio analyst for the Big Ten Network and a radio host for SiriusXM. Nicole was named the 2020 National Sports Writer of the Year by the National Sports Media Association, becoming the youngest national winner of the prestigious award. Before joining The Athletic, she covered college football and college basketball for USA Today. Follow Nicole on Twitter @NicoleAuerbach
