U.S. International Team Trials: Michael Andrew Finishes 0.03 Ahead of Caeleb Dressel in 50 Freestyle Prelims
Michael Andrew and Caeleb Dressel have each qualified for the World Championships in multiple individual events, and they will be the favorites in the splash-and-dash as well. Andrew posted the top time in the men’s 50 freestyle prelims at 21.68, just three hundredths ahead of Dressel (21.71).
Andrew broke the American record in the 50 breaststroke on his way to a win earlier in the meet, and he also finished second in the 50 butterfly, 100 fly and 100 breast. Dressel has notched three wins so far, in the 100 free, 50 fly and 100 fly. At last year’s Olympics, Dressel captured gold in the 50 free by a massive margin of 0.48, more than double the largest margin of victory in Olympic history for that event.
Brooks Curry and Ryan Held have already qualified for the World Championships after they took second and third, respectively, in the 100 free on the meet’s first day, and they also posted strong prelims performances in the 50. Curry qualified second in 21.91, and Held was third in 21.92. NC State freshman David Curtiss also broke 22 with his fifth-place mark of 21.99.
Hunter Armstrong, one of the breakout stars of this meet after he broke the world record in the 50 backstroke and finished ahead of Ryan Murphy in the 100 back, finished sixth in prelims in 22.12, while Jack Alexy (22.14) and Justin Ress (22.19) also qualified for the final. Ress qualified for the World Championships by finishing sixth in the 100 free, and he may also swim the 50 back in Budapest after he took second to Ress and became the third-fastest performer in history in the event.
Links:
