Caeleb Dressel announced on his Instagram story today that he will not be moving or retiring after a cryptic Instagram post yesterday sparked discussion in swimming communities.
Yesterday, Dressel posted a picture of him in a Florida cap on Instagram with the caption “Forever Thankful. Forever Grateful. Forever a Gator.”
This post came just days after Dressel was videoed training at Aquatic Sports Performance with Santo Condorelli and Michael Andrew, leading many to suspect he was going to announce a move away from Florida, where he has been training since he started college in 2014. Others suspected a potential retirement announcement incoming.
Dressel took an extended break from competition after the Olympics, swimming his first meet of the year in April at the TYR Pro Swim Series in Fort Lauderdale. He also raced once in July at the Florida Senior Championships, and once in August at the USA Swimming Summer Championships, where he just missed Pan Pacs Qualification.
He clarified today that he will not be moving or retiring on his Instagram story.
“Meghan [Dressel’s wife] just told me I started some drama online with my latest post lol
“I’m not moving or retiring. Sorry folks, my bad.”
Dressel is no stranger to starting fires with his social media posts. On the first day of the NCAA Championships in 2017, he tweeted that he would be leading off Florida’s 800 freestyle relay. He did not lead off the relay, swimming the four shorter relays instead.
With two kids under two, one only being a few months old, I have a hard time seeing his wife going along with a move of any kind.
He is going to train with Jungbluth at SportingJax a few times a week.
Dear Sporting Jax Families,
We are thrilled to announce that Olympic gold medalist and world champion swimmer, Caeleb Dressel, will be joining Sporting Jax Aquatic Club as he prepares for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
Caeleb Dressel achieved undeniable success while working with Coach Steve Jungbluth during their time together at the University of Florida, highlighted by NCAA titles and world-record-breaking performances. We’re excited to see Dressel and Jungbluth reignite their powerful partnership here at Sporting Jax, bringing their shared passion for excellence to inspire the next generation.
With ten Olympic medals—nine of them gold, including two in Rio (2016), five in Tokyo (2020), and two in Paris (2024)—alongside… Read more »
Could Dressel change coaches and just train remotely? Do you think he requires a team environment or can he self motivate at this stage?
I don’t think that’s a good structure for almost anyone
That’s true, but it’s possible he might be looking for a better ratio of coach to swimmer. Florida has so many swimmers between their college and pro team…it’s just possible that he feels he needs more dedicated attention from a coach….there are plenty of places that could offer that for him.
I guess he was out in california training, liked it, and who knows, maybe that’s the direction he’s heading. It would validate him saying “always a gator” but also not retiring.
I think he is disciplined enough to train by himself, but he seems to be the type that genuinely gets excited when the people around him succeed. I think he really enjoyed the team aspect in college and in the ISL.
Everyone overanalyzing and reading into the post… bro just wanted to remind us how much he loves the University of Florida. What a goon
Does anyone know if Speedo dropped Dressel or if he dropped Speedo? What’s his deal with the new brand?
I miss Dressel in the 50 free with a Mizuno
Nobody drops Speedo to go wear a wonky “The Bore” suit.
Phelps did something like that to sign with irrelevant aquasphere
They do if the money is right?
Also Speedo’s sprint suit is one of the worst on the market, to the point that sprinters are choosing the other suit instead if they are Speedo sponsored.
I’ve been out of competition for a while… are tech suits that specialized? Are “sprint suits” just “non-OW”, or are there actually suits targeted at < 100 m?
Arena had a suit specialized toward breastroke back when I was in high school. Did I notice a difference between that suit and the Speedo at the time? … I don’t think so.
Sprint suits are more likely to have dual-layering for buoyancy and extensive taping for muscle support. Generally feels more compressive, and maybe claustrophobic for something like an 800 or 1500
Is this Caeleb committing to use his 5th year of eligibility at the University of Florida?
That’s a crazy good pic of him
Must be from 2019 or earlier.
The cover photo? That was this year. The photo he posted was 2018.
He’s clearly rocking DeBoer which is only the past year, and he has the leg tattoo which he got after Tokyo. did you even look at the picture?
No, I just wanted to be as snarky as possible.
Gator nation for the win