Heartbroken US star Caeleb Dressel misses chance to defend Olympic titles in 50-meter free, 100 fly

NANTERRE, France — Caeleb Dressel finally let it all out, his individual events in the pool complete and not even close to the results he had wanted. The decorated American missed chances to defend two of his Olympic titles from three years ago in Tokyo, and he broke down.

Dressel sobbed, and he sobbed some more. For several minutes, he cried Friday night.

Shortly after a sixth-place showing in the 50-meter freestyle, he failed to reach the final in the 100 butterfly.

“Obviously it’s not my best work,” Dressel said. “I had a lot of fun though, I can honestly say that. It hasn’t been my best week, I don’t think I need to shy away from that, but the racing’s been really fun here.”

Bouncing along moments before his freestyle race, Dressel made his way onto the pool deck when his name was introduced looking confident as ever. He raised his arms and side-shuffled to reach his spot in Lane 2.

Dressel set Olympic records while winning both the 50 free and 100 fly — the latter also a world record — among his five golds at the Tokyo Games, but touched the wall in 21.61 for sixth in the free Thursday. His fly semifinal was a shocking 13th-fastest.

Dressel hung over the lane rope after the free, taking his time leaving the water. He insists he won't let these disappointing races ruin his stay in France.

“Just seeing the moment for what it is instead of relying on just the times,” Dressel said. “I'm at the Olympic Games. I won't forget that. I'd like to be performing better. I'm not. I train to go faster than the times I'm going, I know that. It's tough. It's a little heartbreaking, a little heartbreaking for sure.”

The 27-year-old Dressel has been cheered on by wife Meghan and their five-month-old son, August, sporting oversized protective headphones in the deafening noise of La Defense Arena.

The baby did get to witness Dad bring home one gold medal. Dressel anchored the winning 4x100-meter freestyle foursome as the Americans beat out the rival Australians and Chinese on Saturday night in Day 1 of Olympic swimming competition.

That marked his eighth career gold. In Tokyo, he also won the 100 free and 4x100 medley relay after capturing golds in the two relays at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games, too.

Now, Dressel is going to enjoy this last stretch in Paris as best he can. After all, Dressel might not have been here at all if he hadn't taken a prolonged break from swimming in 2022 to work on his mental health and regain his love for the sport.

He turns 28 on Aug. 16, and now there's plenty more work and self-care to be done. It has made such a difference for Dressel.

“Nope, I wouldn't be at this meet, I probably would have been done swimming a long time ago, to be honest,” he said. “It's still a work in progress, so I have years ahead of me I'm looking to, but a lot went into this just to be here.”