Is Caeleb Dressel Confident in Clean Olympics? ‘No, Not Really’
Within the last three months, accomplished international swimmers have heavily criticized the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and World Aquatics for a lack of transparency after 23 Chinese swimmers tested positive for trimetazidine in early 2021. Two days before the start of the Olympic swimming competition, one of the most accomplished swimmers in history has publicly stated his own displeasure with the situation.
At a press conference Thursday in Paris, Caeleb Dressel was asked whether he had confidence he would be competing in a clean Games. “No, not really,” Dressel said. He paused, then continued, “I don’t think they have given us enough evidence to support how this case was handled.”
Dressel’s blunt answer was a sharp contrast to the many swimmers understandably attempting to focus on their own performances in the days before competition begins. More notably, he made his comments in a press conference that World Aquatics organized, and he was sharing the stage with the two biggest figures in that organization, President Husain Al-Musallam and Executive Director Brent Nowicki. Neither appeared surprised when they heard Dressel’s reaction.
Minutes later, after Dressel and his fellow swimmers had left the room, Al-Musallam and Nowicki weighed in. Al-Musallam, perhaps neglecting the fact that Dressel joins the likes of Katie Ledecky, Zac Stubblety-Cook and Lilly King as Olympic champions to express public criticism of the organization’s conduct, took an optimistic view of the situation.
“First, the rules apply to everyone,” Al-Musallam said. “There is no exception. Secondly, to gain the trust of the athletes, we have the trust of the athletes. Some athletes have doubts, and they have a different view.” Al-Musallam then added that World Aquatics must focus on education regarding its rules, although it was not clear how he hopes to further inform athletes.
Nowicki had a more somber view of the situation, realizing that his organization had significant work to do and changes to make to satisfy athletes, but he expressed optimism of a less contentious future, perhaps as soon as the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
“I think trust is a process, and I think we have to not look at it subjectively or individualistically and look at just one person’s level of trust is. We have to look at it holistically,” Nowicki said. “We’ll work again tirelessly every day to regain that trust. I think we’ll do that with the perspective of all of our sports, all of our athletes. We hope that we have a different answer in LA.”
