Caeleb Dressel Swims 1:43 200 IM at Florida Last Chance Meet

While Florida freshman Caeleb Dressel didn’t need a last chance swim to qualify for the NCAA Championships (his 50 free, 100 free, and 100 fly already easily put him there), he took advantage of the fact that his team was hosting the meet to try the 200 IM: an event that he hinted was one he’d like to make some effort on in college.

If his swim on Friday is any indicator, given the circumstances, he’s got some potential in the race, though it’s hard to tell exactly how much given the circumstance.

Dressel swam a 1:43.86, which ranks him 15th in the country so far this season. Taking into consideration that it was a low-key last chance meet, without any real competition for him, that’s a solid swim – but not likely enough to convince Florida head coach Gregg Troy to change his event lineup for this season at least.

Dressel’s splits:

• fly – 22.26
• back – 26.45
• breast – 30.15
• free – 25.00

For some comparison of splits, we can line him up against Texas’ Will Licon, who currently leads the nation, and Texas’ Joseph Schooling, who is Dressel’s former high school teammate, and look at some splits:

Licon – 22.11/25.12/29.42/25.02
Schooling – 21.94/25.71/30.23/25.11

What those splits reveal is that it’s the backstroke that is really Dressel’s weakness in the IM rather than the breaststroke that one might expect. Note that Licon is a fantastic breaststroke as its own event, but neither Schooling nor Licon is really a star in backstroke, and that’s where their splits were really distanced from Dressel’s.

Among the other interesting times on Friday night at the Florida Last Chance Meet:

• Natalie Hinds won the 50 free in 22.60. Like Dressel, there’s no sense of urgency for NCAA qualifying here, as she was a 21.90 in the event at NCAA’s that still has her 10th in the nation. Auburn’s Megan Fonteno was 2nd in that race in 22.93.
• Lindsey McKnight swam a 4:42.36 in the 500 free, which is a race that she hasn’t really tested all that often in what has overall been a very god year. She’s already in a good spot in the 200 IM for NCAA qualifying, but that 500 free on its own is probably on the right side of the bubble as well. Her NCAA qualifying won’t really be affected by the 500, but it could impact the fates of others if she decides to go with that race for nationals.
• Florida’s Corey Main swam a 19.75 in the 50 free – which again, is another data point, but not a needed qualifying time for the Florida junior, who has been 19.55. Main is actually still not locked up for a spot at NCAA’s. His 46.52 in the 100 back and 1:42.27 in the 200 back would’ve qualified last year, but not by much.
• Dan Wallace swam a 1:44.16 in the 200 IM post-session time trial.