American swimmer Caeleb Dressel added two more gold medals to his immense pile of Olympic, World and NCAA championships with a win in the 50 butterfly and a leadoff leg in the gold medal mens 4 x 100 relay at the 2002 FINA World Aquatics Championships being held in Budapest, Hungary June 18-25.
In his first event, the 4 x 100 relay, Dressel blasted the field with a 47.67 leadoff leg that carried through the event as the United States team held off surges from both Australia and Italy for the win.
In his first individual event, on day two, Dressel held off a multitalented field to win the 50 butterfly in a 22.57 split; just off his own American record of 22.35 and also the world record of 22.27 of Ukraine swimmer Andriy Govorov set in 2018.
Govorov is not at the World Championships due to Russia’s involvement in the the war in Ukraine. Govorov was raised in Russia but also has family ties in Crimea in the Ukraine.
Dressel, noting that the 50 fly is not an Olympic event, said his effort is a part of his overall preparation to defend his numerous titles; 50 free, 100 fly and 100 free, at the World event.
“It’s a tricky event, but my effort comes from my training for the 100 fly,” said Dressel, in a interview with NBC Sports. “My finish was a little long, but it worked.”
Dressel held off strong swims from Nicholas Santos, a 42 year Brazilian Olympian and world medalist, who came in at 22.78 with fellow American Michael Andrew getting bronze, his first World medal, in 22.79. Two more swimmers; Dylan Carter of Trinidad and Thomas Ceccon of Italy, also finished under 23 seconds in the flurry to the finish.
“I knew swimming in this race with Caeleb would make it very fast,” said Andrew. “Getting my first medal sets the tone for the rest of the week.”
After Dressel ripped that opening leg of the 4 x 100 free final on day one, the American team; Ryan Held, Justin Ress and Brooks Curry, maintained three of the fastest splits of the day with Held recording a best-ever 46.99 to add to Dressel’s powerful start as the second leg. Ress hit 47.48 to keep the Americans in first place and Curry finished in 47.20 for the win.
Australian Kyle Chalmers recorded the fastest split of the 4 x 100 relay with a 46.60 as the anchor for the Aussies. Chalmers, whom Dressel defeated for the Olympic gold in the Tokyo Olympic 100 freestyle, is not slated to compete against Dressel in that event in Budapest.
The 100 free prelims are scheduled for June 21 with the mixed 4 x 100 medley relay with the final on Thursday.
In the 100 free, Dressel, the defending Olympic champion, is in the fastest heat with his American and Olympic record 47.02 seed time with David Popovici on Romania right next to him with a 47.30 seed time. Four more swimmers have under 48 seconds seed times for the event. The world record, set in 2009 bu Brazilian Cesar Cielo, is 46.91.
In other finals, American Torri Huske, the American record holder in the 100 butterfly out of Stanford University, won the 100 butterfly gold in 55.64 ahead of France’s Marie Wattel and China’s Yufei Zhang with Ameericdan Clair Curzan getting fifth.
Huske also led off the bronze medal effort of the womens 4 x 100 free relay won by Australia with Curzan anchoring the American team.
American Katie Ledecky won her 16 world title with a win in 3:58.15 in the 400 meter freestyle with Canadian 15 year old Summer McIntosh chasing Ledecky to a 3:59.39 silver medal. American Leah Smith was third in 4:02.08.
In the 200 Individual medley, American Alex Walsh won over Australia’s Kaylee McKeown with a 2:07.13 split with American Leah Hayes finishing third.
American Carson Foster finished second in the 400 individual medley to France’s Leon Marchand with a 4:06.56 effort. Marchand won in 4:04.28 with American Chase Kalisz third in 4:07.47 as the American team showed massive depth in the opening two days with multiple two-medal finals.
In the 100 breaststroke, won by Italy’s Nicolo Martinenghi, American Nic Fink finished third.