2017 PURDUE INVITATIONAL
- Live Results
- Psych Sheets
- Meet Central
- Hosted by Purdue (West Lafayette, Indiana)
- 25 Yards
- Invite Format
Florida’s Caeleb Dressel had an explosive performance on Thursday night at the Purdue Invitational. Dressel, who typically makes headlines with his sprint free and butterfly performances, turned his focus to the 200 IM individually on day 1. He demolished his best time in the event, dropping 2 full seconds en route to a 1:40.61 victory. His time was 6 hundredths faster than what it took to win NCAAs last season.
Check out a video of Dressel’s race here courtesy of Martin Plummer:
Dressel finished body lengths ahead of the field, which included reigning NCAA champion Mark Szaranek and All-Americans Jan Switkowski and Vini Lanza. Dressel trailed slightly at the halfway point, but kicked it into another gear on the breast leg and really turned on the gas on the closing freestyle split.
Dressel’s Splits by 50:
- Fly- 22.28
- Back- 25.62
- Breast- 29.15
- Free- 23.56
- Final Time- 1:40.61
Dressel blew away the former Pool Record, which stood at a 1:43.09 done by Dylan Bosch in 2016. He came very close to breaking the SEC Record of 1:40.49 done by Florida’s Bradley Ally in 2009. His performance makes him the 9th fastest swimmer in history. With Dressel making his way onto the list, half of the all-time top 10 are current or former Gators.
All-Time Top Performers – Men’s 200 Yard IM:
| Place | Swimmer | Time |
| 1 | David Nolan | 1:39.38 |
| 2 | Will Licon | 1:40.04 |
| 3 | Ryan Lochte | 1:40.08 |
| 4 | Josh Prenot | 1:40.14 |
| 5 | Ryan Murphy | 1:40.27 |
| 6 | Bradley Ally | 1:40.49 |
| 7 | Michael Phelps | 1:40.58 (T-7) |
| 8 | Marcin Cieslak | 1:40.58 (T-7) |
| 9 | Caeleb Dressel | 1:40.61 |
| 10 | Mark Szaranek | 1:40.67 |
Can you imagine Gregg Troy with Lochte and Dressel rollin to Tokyo??
The psychology?
Unimaginably we are watching “beyond Michael”
Unfolding…
1:40:6…?????
Are you kiddin??
If he’d have been pushed, he’d have been under 1:40. Imagine for a minute what he could have done on that last split. Imagine what a guy who can kick like that can do in the 100 back too. Once in a lifetime swimmer.
Mark Sirhammock would have out touched Drezzel if he had not been saving himself for the 200 breast on the last day.
9th fastest ever at this time in the season- just amazing.
As a former 200 flyer… if I had Caeleb Dressel’s skill set, I would never ever ever swim the 200 fly.
Maybe people keep saying that as a joke, but who can say “I go 40-point in the 100 free, but I’d rather spend the last event of the meet getting punted in the junk…”
He could definitely break the NCAA record in this event. It looked like he took it out conservatively, and then turned on his power in the breast and free.
Any idea why Caeleb is a no show for today’s events? I hope everything is OK. No fly or breaststroke today. ?
^Seconded. Doesn’t look like he scratched… Was he entered in the first place?
The optimist in me is hoping he’s taking a rest morning so he can lead off their 800 FR in a 1:29 tonight…
Probably will swim all relays instead
If I’ve learned anything with Dressel, its 3-4 steps forward, 1 step back, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Becoming a superhuman takes time
Um — other than when he took 6 months off during his senior year in HS (4 yrs ago) — what are all these backwards steps you’re talking about?
-18.9 in hs but like not swimming the second day and almost dying (maybe more a facility issue).
-Winning NCAAs in 50 and going 42/43s after.
-Not making the 50 or medaling individually in Rio after 18.2 and 40.4 and being 21.5/18.6 the year before.
-I got nothing for last year other than maybe not swimming fast enough at trials in 200 free to be guaranteed for finals 800 FR but that was arguably more coaches than him.
The “steps back” rn are way less noticable though now and might not even be tangible anymore after what he’s been through recently. I completely have faith he’ll get 9+ golds in Tokyo but he’s human and I’m sure theres things… Read more »
Possibly we get to see a 200 Fly/100 Free double tomorrow???
Caeleb is not swimming a 200 fly. Lol?
He was coasting on the fly, and his backstroke was sloppy (see first breakout and flip turn).
Then, game over.