Caeleb Dressel did it again for the Florida Gators, breaking another American sprint freestyle record at the 2016 SEC Championships.
This time, Dressel snuck under the 100 freestyle record by just .01 seconds, taking Olympic champ Nathan Adrian‘s name off the books.
Dressel was 41.07, getting under the 41.08 mark Adrian set back in 2009 when he was a member of the California Golden Bears in the NCAA.
Comparatively, Dressel bested Adrian’s record with a fast opening split of 19.52 to his feet at the flip turn – more than a tenth faster than what Adrian went in setting the record. Adrian was a tenth faster on the back half, but Dressel still bested his overall time:
Splits Comparison:
- Dressel – 19.52/21.55 – 41.07
- Adrian – 19.65/21.43 – 41.08
Dressel’s swim also broke the highly-competitive SEC meet record, previously held by Matt Targett at 41.55. The US Open and NCAA records, however, still stand at the 40.76 set by Vlad Morozov of USC in 2013.
He now ranks #3 all-time behind Morozov and Cesar Cielo, who was also under 41 back in 2008:
Top 100 Freestylers of All-Time:
- Vlad Morozov, 40.76 – 2013 (US Open, NCAA record)
- Cesar Cielo, 40.92 – 2008
- Caeleb Dressel, 41.07 – 2016 (American record)
- Nathan Adrian, 41.08 – 2009
- Ryan Hoffer, 41.23 – 2015 (17-18 NAG record)
His 50 & 100 – especially his 50 – are both incredible swims and are indicative of real speed.
That said – and I really do mean it: they are amazing times – they’re short course yards times. And I am getting increasingly sceptical regards fast yards swims equating to fast swims in the big tank. I really do think SCY disproportionally rewards excellence underwater. And the better you are underwater, the more disproportionate that reward is.
Given how important college swimming is in the US and college swimming is yards swimming, American athletes are evermore the standard to which all aspire to as it relates to proficiency underwater. Hoffer’s 100 is indicative of that ability. And Dressl’s 50. When… Read more »
Beautyful race
The biggest question is fly or breaststroke at NCAAs?
This is a good question. All-else-equal, I think the breaststroke this year will be a softer event. When I coach, even while pushing kids to be versatile in season, when it comes to the final taper, I tend to prefer to make them have fewer things to think about – aka, if he’s swimming breaststroke on the relays, have him swim breaststroke individually, so that he only has freestyle and breaststroke to think about. So, as an outsider to the program, if it were my swimmer, I’d do breaststroke for those reasons.
That being said, the coaches working with him every day will have other information to consider besides the above, so their decision could be different. My preference as… Read more »
Dressel is a competitor at heart. The chance to race his old teammate schooling and Conger in 100 fly is too much to pass up. I hope he does fly.
I hope he goes with the 100 fly too..
Also curious to see what schooling and conger choose for their 3rd events.. Schooling did the 2 IM and conger swam the 100 back last year..
I would love to see both in the 100 free.. But I think that falls on the last day with the 2fly
I think he should swim both. I think he needs to give backstroke a chance too. Dressel is shaping up to be a really good IMer. He needs to take a shot at the 200IM and get the US open record. He is too shy with his swimming. And he needs to stop staying up late before the night of swim meets. I just don’t see how this equation leads to an answer. Stop talking and start swimming before I’m impressed.
At NCAAs he will go 18.9/20.8 for a total of 39.7
I can’t wait!
I think he has so much left in the tank too! 19.5 to his feet is incredible but with an 18.2 50 free he could be out 19 low. If he split it the same way Chadwick did compared to his 50 he would have been 40.0 (19.1/20.9)
I can see Dressel throwing down at sub 47 leg in the relay in rio. Adrian I am confident will do the job and MP will be MP. The question is the fourth person: Chadwick ? Lochte ? Conger ? Schneider ?
Don’t forget Hoffer in that mix, 41.2 is no slouch!
He also went 41.44 leading of the relay, being tired, he is fast!
I know this was only a three tenths add, and it’s not reasonable to expect everyone to drop every swim, especially at the end of a long meet, so take what I say next with a grain of salt. Unfortunately, however, this fits the trend of Dressel underperforming on relays compared to individuals, which is worrying considering Dressel is one of the top picks for the 4×100 free in Rio. The only notable exception that comes to mind is his leadoff at junior nationals a few years ago when he was super pumped up trying to break 19.
Now, that being said, this isn’t the end of the world. Being less than .3 off on a leadoff isn’t bad. The… Read more »
Great!
Yesterday I wrote that any time close to 41 low by Dressel would be amazing considering it was the 5th day of a long meet and he swam a lot of races.
And he did it! 41.07! Huge performance!
Two years ago you also wrote that Florida is not a good fit for Dressel because they specialize in training IMers.
Win some lose some; for the most part Bobo is incredibly spot on with his predictions and assessments. Although I disagree with him regarding Dressel being strictly a freestyle sprinter! For Rio the 50 and 100 free are his go to, but I don’t think it’s s stretch to see him branch out to 200IM and 200 free post Olympics and dominating!
Nothing wrong with stating an opinion when it comes from enthusiasm, love for the sport and a genuine desire for the best.
Stating an opinion is one thing.
But reminding everyone every time about your easy predictions (which most people also share anyway but never publicly mentioning them) that came true is pretty annoying especially when his many predictions or opinions have gone totally amiss at best, that he never at once acknowledged.