For the fourth consecutive year, the Texas men’s swimming and diving team finished first at the NCAA Championships.
However, you wouldn’t have known it by looking at most national news outlets covering the meet. Instead, the focus was on Florida senior Caeleb Dressel.
Dressel stole the show at the NCAA Championships in Minneapolis this weekend, setting American, NCAA and UF records in the 50 free, 100 free and 100 fly.
Dressel became the first person in history to swim the 50 free in under 18 seconds on Thursday, recording a time of 17.81 in his lead-off leg of the 200 free relay. Just a few hours later, he broke the record again with a time of 17.63 in the finals of the 50 free.
“He’s really good every time he swims it. He gets a better feel for it and corrects the things he needs to correct,” UF coach Gregg Troy said in a release. “This one was pretty darn good.”
Dressel also became the first person in history to swim the 100 free in under 40 seconds, recording a time of 39.90 in the event on Saturday. His time of 42.80 in the 100 fly on Friday broke his previous record of 43.58 as well.
“Caeleb is just really good,” Troy said. “He handled things really well.”
Dressel’s performance at the NCAA Championships makes him one of the most successful swimmers in collegiate history. He smashed Olympic gold-medalist Ryan Lochte’s program record of seven individual national titles with his victories in the 50 free, 100 free and 100 fly. He also led UF to a win in the 200 free relay, increasing his career national titles total to 10.
In addition, Dressel took home seven All-American honors at the meet, giving him 28 over the course of his career — one more than Shaune Fraser’s previous program record of 27.
To cap it all off, Dressel won his third consecutive CSCAA Swimmer of the Year award following his record-shattering performance in Minneapolis. It is the first time Dressel has not shared the award with another swimmer.
Follow Sam Campisano on Twitter @samcampisano and contact him at scampisano@alligator.org.
Florida senior Caeleb Dressel finished his career with a bang at the NCAA Championships, breaking American, NCAA and UF records in the 50 free, 100 free and 100 fly.
