Townley Haas Spent 2 Weeks Training with Caeleb Dressel in Gainesville

Townley Haas spent 2 weeks training with Gregg Troy, Caeleb Dressel, and the University of Florida post-graduate group. The connection came via the Cali Condors, where Troy was the head coach, Dressel was the team’s superstar swimmer, and Jan Switkowski was also on the Gator roster.

“I just treated it as a training trip,’ the 23-year old Haas said. “I’ve heard that sometimes a small change of pace can be good. Caeleb (Dressel) and coach (Gregg) Troy do great and I decided that Florida would be a good place to go and get some training in.”

Haas says that his first test of the training trip will likely be in March at the Pro Swim Series stop in Des Moines, Iowa.

The largely-international group included Dressel, although he and Haas don’t overlap substantially in events – Dressel is the defending World Champion in the 50 fly, 100 fly, 50 free, and 100 free, while Haas specializes in the 200 free. Dressel can certainly swim the 200 free, though – his best time, unrested, of 1:47.31 means that if he swims the race at the Olympic Trials, he’ll probably earn at least a relay spot for Tokyo.

The group overall, though, has a significant middle-to-distance focus. Other swimmers Haas trained with include Tomas Peribonio, Enzo Martinez, Ivan Soruco, Mitch D’Arrigo, Santiago Corredor, and True Sweetser – a Gator collegian who is taking a redshirt season from Stanford to train in Gainesville.

Haas, who finished his college career at the University of Texas in 2019 with 18 All-America Awards, an NCAA Record in the 500 free (4:08.19), and 10 NCAA event titles, still trains primarily in Austin as part of the University of Texas post-grad group. As the 2020 Olympic Trials approach, more-and-more swimmers are taking trips and forming training super-groups