GREENSBORO, North Carolina, December 13. THE swimming community certainly sat stunned last night when 17-year-old Caeleb Dressel turned in a stunning 18.94 relay leadoff for the Bolles School’s 200-yard freestyle relay last night at the USA Swimming Winter Junior Nationals.
Now, you can watch the swim as many times as you’d like! Here’s the amazing video:
Bolles’ Caeleb Dressel demonstrated just how transcendent of an 18-and-under sprinter he is as he became the first age group ever to break 19 seconds in the 50-yard free at the USA Swimming Winter Junior Nationals.
Dressel, a future Florida Gator, blew the top off the Greensboro Aquatic Center with a sizzling time of 18.94 as the Bolles’ relay leadoff. That performance beat a pair of 19.29s from Dressel, including one this morning to tie his own 17-18 U.S. National Age Group record. Dressel now stands 15th all time in the history of the event, and is one of just 20 men to ever have broken 19.
Incredibly, that time would have placed him second only to the Sizzling Siberian Vlad Morozov at this year’s NCAA Division I Men’s Championships. Morozov (18.63) and Auburn’s Marcelo Chierighini (18.99) were the only sub-19s in the individual event in March.
The rest of the Bolles squad can’t be forgotten as Dressel (18.94), Josh Booth (20.00), Arthur Pace (20.30) and William McKinney (20.03) threw down a 1:19:27. Booth, however, is an international swimmer and thus the time does not count as a NAG.
Scottsdale’s Ryan Hoffer (19.54), Nicholas Magana (19.77), Joseph Starkweather (20.59) and Jack Blake (19.66), however, did take down a NAG with a second-place 1:19.56. The 15-18 year old foursome beat the 15-18 U.S. NAG for the 200-yard freestyle previously held by SwimMAC’s Matt Josa, Michael Chadwick, Jack Manchester and Kyle Darmody who clocked a 1:20.44 in 2012.
Hoffer, just 15, also took down a NAG of his own as his leadoff beat Dressel’s 15-16 mark of 19.82 set in 2012.
