The last time Caeleb Dressel took center stage in a swimming arena was at the 2022 World FINA Championships in Budapest, Hungary. Although later on, he had pulled out of the tournament due to medical reasons, the then 25-year-old swimming sensation, already a 7-time Olympic gold medalist, didn’t disappoint. He won 2 gold medals leaving his fans happy. Yesterday, he returned to the Atlanta Classic swimming arena, with almost a year-long gap in between. However, he barely lost his touch of panache with the water.

Caeleb Dressel returned to swimming at the Atlanta Classic, finishing the 100-meter butterfly race in 53.60 seconds at the prelims. It soon created waves around the swimming world that Dressel is here to stay.

Caeleb Dressel’s return to swimming grabbed all the attention

A tweet by social media user and swimming analyst Kyle Sockwell went, “Caeleb Dressel’s first swim back is what looked like a smooth and controlled 53.60 in the 100 fly”, followed with an ice-cold freezing emoji. His shock at Dressel’s near-indomitable form, even a year later, was something most swimming fans echoed. Dressel had earlier teased his fans about his return, and now when he has, it’s getting some attention.

Sockwell also attached a video of Dressel completing the race ahead of Crawford (2nd place) and Khaled (3rd place) among others. This was the prelims of the 100-meter Butterfly and Dressel completed the race in 53.60 seconds. However, in the overall prelims competition, Dressel was placed in 3rd position. He was behind Josh Liendo and Martin Espernberger finishing at 52.16 seconds and 53.46 seconds respectively.

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Is New US Olympics Sensation Caeleb Dressel Faster Than Michael Phelps?

Later on, during the main event, Dressel sped up. He finished the mains 100-meter Butterfly race in 52.41 seconds, more than 1 second faster than his prelims. But it was still not enough for him to clinch gold. 20-year-old Canadian swimmer Liendo outswam him with 51.79 seconds.

Dressel’s return is more than impressive to raise hopes for Paris Olympics

Dressel may not have won the race, earning 2nd place and 3rd place at the mains and prelims respectively, of the 100-m Butterfly. Although it might be a far cry from his speed at the Tokyo Olympics, Dressel, at age 26, still swims with equal calm, control, and smoothness. The last time Dressel swam at the World Championships, he won gold at the 4×100-meter Freestyle relay and 50-meter Butterfly events. Although his return didn’t land him a gold medal this time, the swimming world recognized his efforts to be an impressive one.

There were fans with “Go Caeleb Dressel” signs at the Georgia Tech Aquatics Center, the same place where the 1996 Atlanta Olympics swimming events took place. Dressel’s 2nd place finish after an 11-month-long break is sure to raise expectations from him at the upcoming World Championships and the Paris Olympics 2024.

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