Caeleb Dressel on Nature of Trials: ‘This Meet is Where Dreams Come True But Also Where Dreams Come to Die’

Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

Caeleb Dressel on Nature of Trials: ‘This Meet is Where Dreams Come True But Also Where Dreams Come to Die’

Past the halfway point of the U.S. Olympic Trials, as always, there has been a little bit of everything.

There have been thrilling victories, agonizing third-place finishes, upsets and unexpected triumph. The plethora of emotions is part of the Trials, the most intense and emotional meet in swimming.

“This meet is where dreams come true but also where dreams come to die,” Caeleb Dressel said. “It’s a sad reality the amount of people I have seen walking down from the deck with tears in their eyes. It is unfortunate. It’s one part of the meet that, it sucks. It breaks my heart to see people you swam on teams with not make a team, but that’s also my favorite part about making national teams like this is seeing the new faces, seeing these new kids step up.

“My favorite part about any national team championship I’ve been on is training camp. I’m very much looking forward to that, really becoming Team USA. That’s what makes Team USA so special, whenever we are shipped off to — I say it like it’s a bad thing. Whenever we are flying over to Hawaii, that’s when we are becoming Team USA. And that’s my favorite part about this meet. You have people from different backgrounds, different ages, different club teams all around America, and we are becoming one team. So right now, we might not realize it, but us four, five, are teammates right now. So we’re going to grow, we’re going to make that bond even stronger in Hawaii, and once we go off to Tokyo, we will get ready to take care of business.”

Dressel qualified for Tokyo in his first event on Thursday, winning the 100 freestyle. That doesn’t have him overconfident heading into his next race. He knows how brutal this meet can be.

It was brutal for Will Licon, who finished third in the 200 breaststroke for the second consecutive Olympic Trials, one spot away from qualifying for Tokyo after suffering the same heartbreak in 2016. Melanie Margalis finished third in the 400 IM after being passed late in the race. She has competed in other events, but the toll of missing that closely is apparent.

Carson Foster led the 400 IM for most of the race before being overtaken by Chase Kalisz and Jay Litherland in heartbreaking fashion in the final few meters. Luca Urlando was touched out by Gunnar Bentz for the second spot in the 200 fly.

Simone Manuel missed the finals in the 100 free, an event she won in Rio, and then opened up about her struggles, not just at this meet.

There are also plenty of triumphs, and sometimes the triumphs can be even bigger coming on the heels of devastation.

Olivia Smoliga finished third in the 100 backstroke, an event in which she was favored to take one of the top two spots. But she refocused and is the top qualifier in the 100 free finals and could have a triumphant finish.

Nic Fink was third in the 100 breaststroke earlier in the meet, then was able to shake off the heartbreak and reset for the 200, where he rallied for victory and a spot on the Olympic team.

These ups and downs are what makes it the most emotional meet in swimming — and with Olympic spots on the line every race, that is what makes it the very best — where dreams come true and come to die, as Dressel so eloquently put it.

Swimming continues to grow because there is nothing quite like chasing those dreams.

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