U.S. Olympic Trials: Chris Guiliano Edges Jack Alexy For 100 Freestyle Win; Caeleb Dressel Makes Team in Relay

Chris Guiliano -- Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

U.S. Olympic Trials: Chris Guiliano Edges Jack Alexy For 100 Freestyle Win; Caeleb Dressel Makes Team in Relay

The young, emerging sprint stars were in the center lanes. Both had sizzled in the early rounds of the men’s 100 freestyle, with Jack Alexy going 47.08 in prelims to reinforce his status as the second-fastest American in history before Chris Guiliano clocked 47.25 to move to No. 3 in the domestic rankings.

In the final, the Alexy-Guiliano duo would face Caeleb Dressel, the longtime face of the U.S. men looking almost as dangerous as ever following an extended break from the sport. And if any of the big three faltered, there were plenty of hungry swimmers in the outside lane, with a ridiculous time of 48.11 required for a spot in the heat.

Maybe the times in the final were nothing out-of-this-world, with Dressel’s American record of 46.96 never seriously threatened. But the race had everything else: Guiliano and Alexy secured their spots to challenge the best in the world in Paris while Dressel officially qualified for his third Olympic team, his third-place finish sufficient to earn passage to Paris for the U.S. men’s 400 free relay.

Dressel built a reputation as the best in the world at the start and breakout, but Alexy, Guiliano and Ryan Held would all match the 27-year-old star’s speed in the opening portion of the race. Guiliano and Alexy got to the halfway point tied at 22.51, with Held (22.59) and Dressel (22.70) just behind. Held would fade slightly in the final 25 meters, leaving Guiliano, Alexy and Dressel to battle it out to the wall.

In the end, Guiliano would show of the staying power that allowed him to finish second in the 200 free two days earlier. He got to the wall in 47.38, nine hundredths ahead of Alexy’s 47.47. Dressel was just behind in third at 47.53while Hunter Armstrong, already on the Olympic team as the second-place finisher in the 100 back, took fourth in 47.78 to round out the initial relay squad.

As Dressel congratulated Guiliano and Alexy, an enormous smile flashed across his face, showing that swimmer who left midway through the 2022 World Championships and took more than six months off from the sport seeing balance and joy in the sport has once again found it.

Minutes later, when the newly-qualified Olympians were presented to the crowd inside Lucas Oil Stadium, Dressel said, “I’m trying to have fun and I am having fun. It’s hard not to.” As fans screamed in appreciation, Dressel added, “You guys don’t know how much it means to me. It’s been tough.”

Guiliano and Alexy were both short of their semifinal times in a race, but that’s not an unusual occurrence in a pressurized Trials final where at least half the swimmers in the heat (and likely) more will reach the Olympics. Alexy currently ranks No. 3 in the world and Guiliano fourth, with only world-record holder Pan Zhanle (46.80) and David Popovici (46.86) having been quicker. Popovici recorded that time earlier Wednesday at the European Championships, marking his best swim in almost two years, and he acknowledged the impressive efforts by the U.S. men in Indianapolis as he anticipates their presence in the Olympic final.

“Good luck to the Americans in the final because they have yet to have it I think,” Popovici said. “Of course everyone has been watching it, and we are all glued to the screens. In Paris, we are all going to meet, and it is going to be beautiful.”

This will be the first of Dressel’s three Olympic appearances where he does not swim the individual 100 free, but he will still have chances to add individual swims later in the week. Entering the meet, Dressel looked like a strong bet for relay qualification, but given the swims Alexy and Guiliano had posted in the leadup, his best chances at individual swims were always the 50 free and 100 butterfly.

A pair of additional relay alternates could get spots in Paris if the U.S. roster has not reached its maximum capacity of 26 by the end of the meet once top-two finishers and the top-four in the relay events have all been added to the roster. Held finished fifth in 47.82 while Matt King was sixth in 47.94. Held finds himself once again in a tricky position three years after he finished sixth in the 100 free but was left off the team because of a roster crunch.

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