The Swimming Worlds are only two days old and already Caeleb Dressel is once again proving why he is the best swimmer since Michael Phelps.
Posted yesterday at 2:26 p.m.
The American made short work of his opponents in the 50-meter butterfly event at the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary on Sunday. Despite a relatively slow start, Dressel’s power made the difference and it was he who hit the wall first, to protect his title acquired in 2019.
“I didn’t see anything from the other swimmers, I was just swimming. It wasn’t a perfect race, but it’s satisfying. It was a first individual race and it’s promising,” he said after the race.
After a gold medal the day before in the four-times 100m relay, the 25-year-old swimmer got his hands on a fifteenth career gold medal, a seventeenth overall in the World Championships.
Dressel picks up where he left off at the Olympics last summer, where he won five gold medals.
The 42-year-old Brazilian, Nicholas Santos, in the eighth lane won the silver medal.
American Michael Andrew completed the podium.
Mary-Sophie Harvey finishes 8e
Mary-Sophie Harvey had the chance to do great things in the final of the 200-meter medley event, she who had swum well in the semi-final.
Photo FRANCOIS-XAVIER MARIT, Agence France-Presse
Mary Sophie Harvey
She was able to keep up the pace in the butterfly, backstroke and breaststroke, but lost a lot of speed on the final freestyle lap. She was in the sixth corridor. The 22-year-old Trifluvienne took the eighth and last place in the final.
It was Alex Walsh who easily took the top honours. The 21-year-old American finished almost half a second ahead of Australian Kaylee McKeown. The 20-year-old Australian had won four medals, including three gold, in Tokyo last summer.
Leah Hayes, a 17-year-old phenomenon, who had done well the day before, won the bronze medal and also set a new junior record with a time of 2:08.91.
Huske seizes his chance
The young Torri Huske, for her part, took the top honors in the race which attracted the most attention at the pool. The 100m butterfly was the scene of a very tight race, despite the notable absences of Canadian Maggie MacNeil, reigning Olympic champion who preferred to focus on the team events, and Australian Emma McKeon, the most decorated athlete of the last Games, who has decided to skip these Worlds.
Huske finished just off the podium in Tokyo and his time of 55.64 sends a very powerful message. It will be one to watch over the next few years. In addition to winning her first world title, she posted the best time in history for an American over this distance.
“I’m so happy, considering there were some really good swimmers by my side, so I’m grateful,” said the 19-year-old athlete.
The French Marie Wattel and the Chinese Yufei Zhang completed the podium.