Watch Caeleb Dressel Blast a 22.76 to Break 50 Fly AR in Semis (Video)

2017 FINA WORLD SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS

Caeleb Dressel broke the American record winning his semi-final heat of the 50m butterfly on Sunday evening in Budapest. (You can read all about the record here). After posting a 22.97 for the second-fastest qualifying time out of heats, Dressel blasted a 22.76 in the semi-final, knocking .15 off the American record, set in 2009 by Bryan Lundquist at the World Championships. As you can see below, Dressel exploded off the block and set the pace from the beginning. Great Britain’s Benjamin Proud was with him stroke for stroke, but Dressel nailed his finish and Proud placed second in the heat with 22.92. Henrique Martins was third with 23.13.

Video courtesy of NBC Sports.


Write-up from Karl Ortegon:

MEN’S 50 FLY – SEMIFINALS

  • WR – 22.43, MUNOZ PEREZ Rafael: 5 APR 2009
  • CR – 22.67, CAVIC Milorad: 27 JUL 2009
  • WJR – 23.39, LI Zhuhao: 29 SEP 2015
  1. Caeleb Dressel, USA 22.76
  2. Andrii Govorov, Ukraine 22.77
  3. Nicholas Santos, Brazil 22.84
  4. Ben Proud, GBR 22.92
  5. Joseph Schooling, Singapore 22.93
  6. Henrique Martins, Brazil 23.13
  7. Tim Phillips, USA 23.25
  8. Andrii Khloptsov, Ukraine 23.31

Caeleb Dressel was out flying, quite literally, to win semifinal 1 of the men’s 50 fly. He tore past the American record of 22.91 held previously by Bryan Lundquist, set in 2009, by going 22.76. That’s a huge swim for him, and he’s making a case to be a prime gold medal contender tomorrow night. GBR’s Ben Proud was right there for second in the semifinal, also under 23 seconds at 22.92.

Andrii Govorov made it to the wall first in the 2nd heat, going 22.77 to take the 2nd seed for the final right behind Dressel. Brazil’s Nicholas Santos was right behind in 22.84, with Joseph Schooling of Singapore also under 23 seconds in that 2nd semifinal to move on to the final at 22.93.

Santos’s teammate Henrique Martins made the final in 6th (23.13), followed by American Tim Phillips (23.25) and Ukraine’s Andrii Khloptsov. The Ukrainian is young– he was born in 1998.

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About Anne Lepesant

Anne Lepesant

Anne Lepesant is the mother of four daughters, all of whom swam in college. With an undergraduate degree from Princeton (where she was an all-Ivy tennis player) and an MBA from INSEAD, she worked for many years in the financial industry, both in France and the U.S. Anne is currently …

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