On ‘Heartbreaking’ Night, Caeleb Dressel Says He’s Still Enjoying the Ride

Photo Courtesy: DeepBlueMedia

On ‘Heartbreaking’ Night, Caeleb Dressel Says He’s Still Enjoying the Ride

Three images of Caeleb Dressel from Friday night were hard to reconcile.

There was the legendarily steely competitor bouncing out onto the deck at Paris La Defense Arena before the Olympic final of the men’s 50 freestyle, momentarily caught up in the raucous atmosphere from the partisan French crowd cheering on national icon Florent Manaudou.

There was Dressel, rarely shy about introspection, after finishing sixth in the 50 free and fifth in his heat in the men’s 100 butterfly semifinal, beaming about the fun he was having at the Paris Olympics while describing how “heartbreaking” his swim was.

And there was Dressel, NBC cameras lingering, crying on the shoulder of a Team USA staffer, after it was confirmed that he would miss out on the 100 fly final and be unable to defend his Olympic gold from Tokyo.

“Very obviously not my best work,” Dressel said, looking upbeat in the mixed zone. “I’ve had a lot of fun, though. I can honestly say that. Hasn’t been my best week. I don’t think I need to shy away from that. But the racing’s been really fun here. Walking out for that 50 and the 100 fly, it’s special and I don’t want to forget that. I’d like to be quicker, obviously. But not my week.”

The oblique glances at Dressel’s journey through these Olympics are tough to square, just as casual fans who tune into the sport every four years might find it tough to relate this more human but more fallible version of Dressel with the cartoonish, all-conquering hero that emerged from Tokyo.

There, Dressel won five gold medals, including the 50 free, 100 free and 100 fly. Since, he’s become a father, taken an extended break from the sport and embraced therapy and mental skills coaching as a way to maximize not just his times but his enjoyment of the sport.

Caeleb Dressel; Photo Courtesy: DeepBlue Media

He hasn’t reached the speed of Tokyo. He fell shy of qualifying for a spot in the 100 free at Olympic Trials in June, though he did qualify for the relay and played a crucial role in winning gold in the 400 free relay in Paris. He won’t defend his titles in the 50 free and 100 fly, Friday made sure.

He still could yet win two more golds in the men’s medley relay and mixed medley relay, which would take him to 10 for his career, more than any human being not named Phelps.

But still, the series of images perplexes. Dressel was by his own admission miserable under the weight of pressure in Tokyo, so much that he had to leave the sport and find who he was outside of it. Were it not for that process, he wouldn’t be in Paris, which to him would’ve been a bigger defeat than any time he could post here. So Dressel being slower but happier was a possible pathway as he left the mixed zone. But its veracity is challenged by the tears poured out, vestiges of the competitor within that, while in better balance with other aspects of his life, still has its revenge to take when performances don’t meet the standard he sets.

“I could be performing better, but I’m not,” he said. “I trained to go faster than the times I’m going. I know that. So, yeah, it’s tough. A little heartbreaking. A little heartbreaking for sure.”

Dressel has the relays to salvage his Games. He swam prelims of the mixed medley relay, so he’ll get whatever medal the USA should earn, even if strategy dictates a female butterflier in finals Saturday night. The men’s medley remains 15-for-15 at non-boycotted Olympics, the closest to a sure thing this sport has. Even with the U.S.’s vulnerabilities, clear weaknesses in each of their competitors make America still the favorite.

But Dressel would probably caution against that phrasing. The last three days will salvage his Games in the water. Out of it, spending time with his wife and son, Dressel said he’s having a blast. Times are, at this point in his career, out of his control, far from the buccaneering days of the past when records fell like leaves in the fall. He’s made peace with the possibility that he will never set a best time again.

But those are external factors. So perhaps the common thread uniting the three dissonant versions of Dressel on display is the internal – the disappointment he felt of falling short of his standards, and the joy he’s felt at living out a Games more in line with his aspirations.

“I think just seeing the moment for what it is instead of relying on just the times,” he said. “That’s a good bit off my best and it felt like it. So I think just actually enjoying the moment. I mean, I’m at the Olympic Games. Don’t want to forget that.”

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Dennis Boyd

1 hour ago

Tough day, Caleb. But, we are with you and reminding you that you are the one who split 50 point in the relay this morning, a 25% contribution to a #1 seed in the MMR for tomorrow. You have great swims in you, right now. Just did not have two back-to-back today. We have faith in you. You can and will make more positive impacts for us before you leave Paris.