American superstar Caeleb Dressel took a big step in his return to top form this week at the U.S. Open in Austin, matching his fastest swim in the 50 free since the Paris Olympics.
Dressel, 29, didn’t advance to the ‘A’ final of the men’s 50 free on Thursday morning, clocking 22.17 in the prelims to place 11th overall, relegating him to the consolation final.
However, in the evening, he took full advantage of the opportunity, blasting his way to a time of 21.94 to touch first and finish 9th overall.
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The time for Dressel matched what he produced in August at the 2025 U.S. Summer Championships, his last competition on record, where he finished 3rd overall.
Given that Dressel was targeting and resting for the U.S. Summer Championships, and by all accounts was coming into the U.S. Open this week in the midst of training, this is a very positive result for the nine-time Olympic gold medalist.
The swim ranks Dressel 13th in the world for the 2025-26 season.
Coming off the 2024 Olympics where he finished 6th in the 50 free (21.61), Dressel returned to action in 2025 with 50 free swims of 22.21 at the Fort Lauderdale Pro Swim in May and 22.62 at the Florida Senior Championships in July prior to his performance at the U.S. Summer Championships.
In the ‘A’ final of the U.S. Open, American Chris Guiliano scored the victory in a new meet record of 21.57, lowering the hours-old mark of 21.58 set by Serbian Andrej Barna in the prelims. Barna placed 2nd in 21.62.
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