Behind Caeleb Dresselās Olympic return, āa work in progressā to rekindle his love for swimming
Follow our Olympics coverageĀ in the lead-up to the Paris Games.
The shimmer of Caeleb Dresselās seven gold medals may suggest otherwise, but he knows swimming can be a brutal and suffocating sport.
He is, without a shadow of a doubt, one of the best in the world at what he does, sprinting from one end of the pool to the other (and sometimes back). He holds the world record in the menās 100-meter butterfly, having first snatched that historical distinction away from Michael Phelps in 2019. Then, Dressel lowered his world record in the event at the Tokyo Olympics ā where he won five gold medals in five events.
Despite it all, Dressel was miserable.
He was fixated on where he felt heād failed. In one race, it was the turn. Another, the finish. His head position. It didnāt matter that heād touched the wall first over and over again. It didnāt matter that he was bringing gold home and helping Team USA finish atop the medal count. He chased perfection. He chased times and chased stretch goals. He hadnāt met them.
āI created a monster in myself ā just so caught up in perfectionism,ā he told former Olympians Missy Franklin and Katie Hoff on their āUnfiltered Watersā podcast. āSo caught up in, āIf I donāt see these times, it means Iām a bad person, or it means I did not train hard enough. If I donāt go a world record, it means ā¦ I didnāt obsess enough.āā
The sport heād been drawn to as a kid because it was so delightfully fun was quite the opposite. And itād been that way for years. But Dressel kept pushing himself, listening to his internal critic ripping himself apart.
Until he ābroke,ā he puts it now. He withdrew abruptly in the middle of the 2022 world championship meet in Budapest and disappeared from the sport for eight months.
Dressel hasnāt gone into much detail about that period of his life in Gainesville, Fla., other than to say he spent a lot of time with his therapist. His wife, Meghan, was there for him, too, though she also realized there were a lot of conversations Dressel needed to have inside his own mind. Some days, he didnāt do much. Most days, he avoided routes that took him past the University of Florida pool. He didnāt want to smell the chlorine.
He had to figure out who he was beyond his best times and what made him tick outside the pool. He had to reorient himself, how he believed others felt about him and why they loved him. He had to learn how to smile again.
The process wasnāt easy, and progress hasnāt always been a straight line. But itās what makes Dressel, 27, who he is now as a swimmer and a person (and new dad). Itās also why heās back in the pool and headed to Paris, one of the headliners of Team USA and arguably the most important piece of the puzzle for the U.S. swim team in its efforts to win the meet by bringing home more gold medals than its peers. There is outside pressure, yes. But inside his mind, Dresselās biggest critic is quieter.
āItās really tough,ā Dressel told The Athletic last month. āItās embedded in me ā where you always want to look for ways to get better. Iām still doing that, but Iām not becoming obsessed and so fixated on it that I lose sight of whatās actually fun with the sport. Itās hard, and itās not like Iāve all of a sudden gotten to figure it out this year. There are things that Iām really proud that Iāve done differently, like being able to enjoy parts of the sport without just crapping on myself for not being perfect.
āIt is still very much a work in progress.ā
Now, Dressel sounds like a person whoās figured out a lot about himself through therapy. One of the first things he will tell you is how helpful his regular appointments with his therapist have been.
āIāve been trying to not be so fixated on results and just simply enjoying racing and training ā those are the two parts of the sport that I really enjoy,ā Dressel said. āThere are parts of the sport that I really dislike, that I really hate. But itās worth putting up with for the moments that I really do enjoy. Itās going to be a balance; Iām not expecting every part of the sport to just be the best thing ever for me. But Iāve really leaned into the parts of the sport that I do enjoy.
āThatās been the main difference for me. Iāve always loved training. Iāve always loved being around the team. The actual racing portion, I do really, really enjoy ā as soon as the gun goes off, itās just simply fun. So, Iāve just been trying to keep it just simply swimming. Simply swimming this year.ā
Dressel will simply swim the 50-meter freestyle and the 100 fly as individual events at the Games, and heāll likely be part of multiple relays. At the U.S. Olympic trials in Indianapolis, he finished third in the 100-free final, which cost him the opportunity to defend his gold medal in the event in Paris.
But heās happy to be part of the Olympic team. Heās proud of what he accomplished at trials to qualify for it. Heās thrilled that his infant son, August, got to see it all, held in Meghanās arms in the stands.
āNo one can take that away,ā Dressel said in Indianapolis. āHeās not going to remember it. I will tell him, trust me, I got photos so I can prove it. ā¦ That was a really special moment. Meghan knows what goes into this, not just the parenting side of things but she gets to see firsthand the struggles that come with the sport.
āThe tears that come with it, the frustration and then also the high points, and getting to share that with them, because they go through that as well ā that was really special, August getting to see that.ā
Meghan shared a video of Dressel with baby August at the Olympic training camp in North Carolina this month, another moment captured and saved to commemorate a once-in-a-lifetime moment. Theyāll be in Paris, too, alongside Dresselās parents and family. Dressel said he wouldnāt be where he is today without their support. And he certainly wouldnāt be where he is without Meghan, whom he calls the āsuperheroā of their family.
Parenthood is wonderful for many reasons, but perhaps the greatest lesson it teaches is one of perspective ā especially for someone who has spent most of his life chasing times and hunting perfection that does not and cannot exist.
āI donāt know if Iāll ever go a best time ever again, and thatās tough to say out loud. It really is,ā Dressel said. āWhen youāre 19, 20, 21, you keep chipping away, chipping away, chipping away. Iām still working harder than ever, finding every path I can take to shave those couple of tenths. But I donāt know. I donāt know if I can do that. Iām really good at racing. You put me in a race, I will make it close, as close as I possibly can, even if I have to try to kill myself to get there. I will put myself in those situations.ā
So, he doesnāt know exactly how Paris will go. But he knows heās older, wiser and genuinely happier than before the last Olympic Games. Others see it, too, and not just when heās straddling the lane line after a race or punching the water in celebration.
āHeās always had that smile,ā seven-time gold medalist and University of Florida training partner Katie Ledecky said. āHe took that time away, and when he came back, heās had that smile every day. Just to see his progression over this past year, how heās just gotten better and better each meet ā he seems to just be loving the racing, and he loves the training probably more than the racing, and that makes everyone around him better.ā
It will make one of the best swimmers in the world better, too. And thatās why that smile is as good as gold, no matter what medal hangs around Dresselās neck.
(Top illustration: Dan Goldfarb / The Athletic; photo: Sarah Stier / Getty Images)Ā
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