There wasn’t a phenom like the swimming GOAT Michael Phelps until another American rose to fame by nabbing 6 medals at the 2013 Junior World Championships. It was none other than Caeleb Dressel, whom most fans counted on after Phelps retired. Also, having made an indelible mark in NCAA history, the 27-year-old has been compared with his older counterpart frequently. But when did he achieve peak success that helped him secure a place beside the stalwart?

At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, in Phelps’ absence, Dressel bagged a record 5 golds, which made him the fifth American to achieve the extraordinary. “I’m faster than him on the short course” was proof that Dressel considered himself Phelps’ equal. But the comparisons kept brewing with each passing day. Could he touch the medal tally of the greatest Olympian?

 Is Caeleb Dressel a better swimmer than Michael Phelps?

The biggest milestone-achieving moment cropped up in the Cali Condors swimmer’s life at the 2017 World Aquatics Championships. The booming cheers in Budapest reverberated around the sporting arena. Dressel bagged the 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle, 100m butterfly, and 4x100m mixed freestyle, mixed medley, freestyle, and medley. A record 7 golds got added to his wall of fame. On the other hand, the 8x Swimmer of the Year award winner boasts 82 medals across all significant long-course competitions. At the 2016 Rio Olympics, the arch-rivals shared the pool in the 4x100m freestyle event, being part of the gold-winning team. But the 27-year-old shows distaste for acute juxtaposition when drawn any.

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He stated in an interview, “It’s not fair to Michael, It’s not fair to me, It’s not fair to the sport. It’s two different swimmers”. Different skill sets and different personalities should always be taken into account. At the 2019 World Aquatics Championships, Dressel smashed The Baltimore Bullet’s record in the 100m butterfly. But even with his greatest efforts, can he touch the standard set by the 28x Olympic medalist?

A comparison between the achievements of Caeleb Dressel and Michael Phelps

Good times rolled in when Michael Phelps won eight medals at the 2004 Summer Olympics. But he notched his game up at the 2008 Summer Olympics, which earned him 8 golds! On the other hand, Dressel’s golden purse looks impressive. Some of the credit goes to the NCAA Championships. He has 10 gold, 4 silver, and 2 bronze medals in his repertoire from there. But when Phelps pitched up to win five golds and one silver in 2016 Rio, he became the only man with peak success stories in the Olympics in a row.

In Dressel’s career with the United States, the 7x Olympic gold medalist bagged 31 gold medals across all events. But even if we add his NCAA ones, the numbers will not be near Phelps’ record of 65. The 11x American Swimmer of the Year award winner allowed space for his younger counterpart to grow, but Dressel needs to toil to reach his shoulder. Caeleb Dressel has always believed in the mantra: “It’s not to beat Michael. It’s not to go faster than Michael”, amid buzzing parity. We can expect a spectacle from him in Paris, though.

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