STUART, Florida, September 28. SWIMMING for Clay High School, Caeleb Dressel became the fastest male sprinter ever to don a high school cap during a meet. Today, at the FSPA Invitational in Stuart, Fla., Dressel shot down the national high school record in the 50-yard freestyle and the 100-yard butterfly. This meet definitely makes Dressel the early frontrunner for Swimming World Magazine High School Swimmer of the Year honors!
Dressel surged to a 19.36 to claim victory in the splash-and-dash finale. That performance bettered the national and public high school record previously held by Vlad Morozov of Torrance High with a 19.43 relay leadoff in May 2010. Ryan Murphy still owns the independent school mark with a 19.54 relay leadoff from last November’s Bolles School onslaught on all the national high school records.
Notably, Dressel also took down the U.S. 17-18 National Age Group record in the event. Seth Stubblefield had previously held that record with a 19.41 since 2012.
Prior to today, when Dressel turned in a 19.56 during prelims, he had not bettered 19.8 in his career. In fact, he only had a pair of sub-20s to his credit with a 19.82 relay leadoff at the 2012 Speedo Winter Junior Nationals as well as a 19.90 individual event at the 2013 NCSA Junior Nationals.
Just one event later, Dressel scorched the 100-yard fly with the first sub-46 in high school swimming history. He blasted the finale in 45.89, splitting the race 21.60 out and 24.29 back. That performance but nearly a second off the national public school record of 46.71 set by Connor Black of Mundelein in February of this year. His swim also beat Bolles’ Joseph Schooling’s overall and independent school mark of 46.50.
Before coming into today, Dressel’s previous best in the 100 fly had been a 47.77 at the 2013 NCSA Junior Nationals. That’s nearly a two second drop today as the sizzling swimmer continues to develop into one of the scariest young swimmers coming out of the United States. His time today is the fastest by a 17-and-under ever, and is the second-fastest swim by an 18-and-under ever.
Only Tom Shields has been faster with a 44.91 17-18 U.S. National Age Group record from the 2010 NCAA Division I Championships. Only Olympian Ian Crocker has also cleared 46 seconds as a teenager, having posted a 45.96 for Texas at the 2001 NCAA Division I Championships.
Notably, Schooling lowered his independent school mark with a second-place 46.20 tonight behind Dressel. He split the swim 21.72 out and 24.48 coming back.
For good measure, Dressel also demonstrated some serious versatility by posting a 24.99 breaststroke leg for Clay High to lead his team to victory over Shorecrest and Bolles in the 200-yard medley relay.