Caeleb Dressel has broken four World Records and six American Records in the month of November.
Dressel broke one World Record and two American Records at the International Swimming League (ISL) semifinal meet on Nov. 16.
Less than one week later, on Nov. 21, Dressel broke two more World Records and an American Record in Day 1 of the ISL finals in Budapest, Hungary. The next day, Dressel broke another World Record and an American Record in Day 2 of the finals.
Dressel’s first World-Record performance came in his opening swim of the competition. He set up on the blocks in the 100-meter butterfly against both World Record holder Chad le Clos, and American Record holder Tom Shields. Those men didn’t hold their titles for much longer.
Dressel finished the 100-meter butterfly in 47.79, becoming the first man to swim the race in under 48 seconds, and shattered le Clos’ former record-holding time of 48.08.
The new record officially made Dressel the fastest 100 butterfly swimmer in short-course yards, short-course meters and long course meters. He is the first man to accomplish this since Ian Crocker in 2007.
Dressel’s second swim of the day, the 50-meter freestyle, told a similar story. This time, though, he wasn’t racing against the current World Record holder; he was the current World Record holder. Dressel finished the race in 20.16, breaking his own record time by .08 seconds. He set both World Records in less than an hour.
Dressel didn’t slow down on Day 2 of the ISL finals.
It kicked off with the 100-meter freestyle. Dressel finished the event in 45.08, setting a new American Record.
Next came the 100-meter individual medley. In the semifinal meet last week, Dressel became the first man to finish the race in under 50 seconds. In the final, he destroyed his own record by .6 seconds, finishing the race in 49.28.
Dressel set four World Records in just one week.
The Gators alumnus, who still trains in Gainesville, led his team, the Cali Condors, to a finals victory to cap off the second ISL season. After his performance, Dressel unsurprisingly won MVP honors.
Contact Sara Kate Dyson at skatedyson@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter @sarakatedyson.
Former Gators swimmer Caeleb Dressel broke four World Records this month alone while representing the Cali Condors in the ISL.
