Caeleb Dressel Shatters 100 Fly World Record In 47.78, First Man Sub-48

2020 INTERNATIONAL SWIMMING LEAGUE – FINAL

Caeleb Dressel finished off the ISL semi-finals last week with a record-setting day, and he picked up right where he left off to begin the final.

Dressel smashed the world record in the men’s 100 butterfly in his first event of the match, clocking 47.78 to become the first man under 48 seconds. The previous fastest-ever swim belonged to Chad Le Clos, who went 48.08 at the 2016 Short Course World Championships.

In addition to the world record, Dressel also annihilated the American Record of 48.63 by almost a full second. That previously belonged to Tom Shields, done at the 2015 Duel in the Pool.

Dressel, who swims for the Cali Condors, held a previous best time of 48.71, set at the 2018 SC Worlds, which only ranked him fourth all-time and was the 11th-fastest swim prior to the race.

Split Comparison

Le Clos, 2016 WR Dressel, 2020 WR Dressel, Previous Best
22.59 22.44 23.07
25.49 25.34 25.64
48.08 47.78 48.71

Both Le Clos and Shields were in the race, taking second and third in times of 48.45 and 48.47, respectively. The time for Shields is his fastest ever, well under his old AR, while Le Clos’ swim is his third-fastest ever and his best in four years.

All in all, the race elicited three of the five-fastest swims ever.

All-Time Performances, Men’s 100 Butterfly (SCM)

Rank Swimmer Time Year
1 Caeleb Dressel (USA) 47.78 2020
2 Chad Le Clos (RSA) 48.08 2016
3 Chad Le Clos (RSA) 48.44 2014
4 Chad Le Clos (RSA) 48.45 2020
5 Tom Shields (USA) 48.47 2020
6 Evgeny Korotyshkin (RUS) 48.48 2009
7 Chad Le Clos (RSA) 48.50 2018
8 Chad Le Clos (RSA) 48.56 2014
9 Chad Le Clos (RSA) 48.59 2014
10 Tom Shields (USA) 48.63 2015

In fourth, Dressel’s Cali teammate Marcin Cieslak put up a time of 49.18 to smash his Polish Record of 49.54 set earlier in the season.

This is the third world record for Dressel in short course meters, all done in the ISL, having broken the 50 free mark during last season’s final and taking out the 100 IM record in the semi-finals. He also now owns five SCM American Records after coming into the match with four.

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Rational Human Being
3 years ago

My comment is directed at the author of this article, James Sutherland. Why on Earth would you say “
Dressel, who swims for the Cali Condors, held a previous best time of 48.71, set at the 2018 SC Worlds, which only ranked him fourth all-time and was the 11th-fastest swim prior to the race.”
ONLY!? What the hell kind of comment is THAT!??! Only 4th all time? As if that is some how a negative? Very poor choice of words. Actually, a ridiculous way to describe a time that is 4th “all time”. Really bad writing.

Michael Mooney
3 years ago

Where can we the replay of these races??

Blue Dressel
3 years ago

Great swimmer. Kind person. Fantastic celebration.

Peter Manieri
3 years ago

Fantastic.
Just curious are they even fully tapered?

Captain Ahab
3 years ago

Caeleb Dressel should win Golden Goggles 2020 male swimmer of the year.

Ol' Longhorn
Reply to  Captain Ahab
3 years ago

Ya think

Fjaksbdb
Reply to  Captain Ahab
3 years ago

“Captain Obvious” 🙂

Joe
3 years ago

Dressel nearly beat Rooney with 2x his back 50 split. IN BUTTERFLY!

Kolesnikov would’ve done stuff like this too with his 24 point back halves in the 100 backstroke, but it’s way harder to do in fly, due to the added fatigue of fly and the foot touch in backstroke.

Anonymoose
Reply to  Joe
3 years ago

and the smaller advantage of a backstrocke start vs a normal start giving you speed on the start of the race

swimfan_00
3 years ago

Le clos is definitely erased from the world record books

DBSwims
3 years ago

Jeez Dressel destroys someone elses WR right in front of him again.

PVSFree
Reply to  DBSwims
3 years ago

Le Clos was the first one to congratulate Dressel after the swim which I think says a lot about their relationship

PFA
Reply to  PVSFree
3 years ago

A lot better than his relationship was with phelps (allegedly).

About James Sutherland

James Sutherland

James swam five years at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario, specializing in the 200 free, back and IM. He finished up his collegiate swimming career in 2018, graduating with a bachelor's degree in economics. In 2019 he completed his graduate degree in sports journalism. Prior to going to Laurentian, James swam …

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