FLEMING ISLAND - With a packed church full of his Clay High brethren, Clay High's most famous swimmer, Olympic and World champion Caeleb Dressel, executed (his words) a game plan of magnitude by finishing off his precarious return to international swimming prowess by thrashing the 100-meter butterfly final at the U.S. Olympic Swim Trials Saturday night in Indianapolis.

"There has been three or four guys internationally that have finished the 100 butterfly in the 50 point low seconds time," said Dressel, who won with a 50.19 split over 17 year old Thomas Heilman (50.80) who also qualified to go to P17-year-old event. "I understand I have the target on my back for being the defending champion."
Also at the Trials, another Clay High state champion swimmer, Sara Stotler, now at the University of Tennesse and in her first Trials, finished 16th in the 200 butterfly (semifinalist), 34th in the 200 Individual Medley and 44th in the 100 butterfly.
Dressel now heads to the Paris Olympics with two individual Trials titles; the 50 free and the 100 butterfly, to defend two of his five gold medals from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Dressel won individual golds in Tokyo in the 50 and 100 free and the 100 butterfly plus two relay golds.
Dressel, in a post race press conference, commented on the differences in his three Olympic journeys with his wife Meghan and child August along for the journey as well as his family; mom Christine, dad Michael and siblings Tyler, Kaitlyn and Sherridon, all in Indianapolis.
"Different experience, like in 2016, I went from a last-place finish, though not technically last because a guy got disqualified, in my first Trials, then making the team for the first time in 2016 as a relay then having my face on the building in 2020," said Dressel. "This time, I still had goals and executed the best I could. I was feeling the love from the crowd all week."
Dressel noted that, as a new dad, the experience had a new meaning for him.
"I haven't really digested the experiences that I have had to put into my "dad" speeches," said Dressel, 27. "One way I will tell August is that if you make the Olympic team, you will always be an Olympian and noone can take that away from you. My son got to see me make the Olympic team this week, and, though, he won't remember it, I got photos that I can show him. That thought and sharing all the ups and downs with me wife Meghan has been special. Meghan knows what goes into this. My whole family goes through every moment as well."
At the Trials, Dressel finished third in the 100 free which gets him a relay spot in the 4 x 100 free relay, but does not allow him to defend his 2020 Tokyo title in the 100 free.
Dressel finished third in the 100 free final behind newcomers Chris Guliano of Pennsylvania who won in 47.38 and Jack Alexy of California, runnerup in 47.47, with Dressel in third at 47.53. The 47.53 was Dressel's fastest time in 2023 and 2024 after a two-year break from the sport. Dressel was the world record holder until 2024 when two swimmers; Pan Zhanle of China and David Popovici of Romania, swam splits faster than Dressel's 46.96 set in 2019. Zhanle's 46.80 is the official world record though his was from the leadoff of a relay while Popovici's time of 46.88 came at the European Championships last week.
"We had six guys under 48 seconds in our 100 free final, that's fast," said Dressel. "I like to race and times will come with execution; put me in a race and I'll make it as close as I can, but I'm happy to see these young guys hitting those fast times. At this point, I don't know if I'll ever have the best time ever again. People say I may have been a part of the new faces being fast and, if true, that's a good thing."
Dressel, one of the more dominant swimmers since Michael Phelps, commented about his finishing third in the 100-free final as part of the changing of the guard.
"Seeing third place on the scoreboard, for me, was relatively new," said Dressel, who noted that his ascension through the preliminaries to the 50 free semifinals and then the 50 free final, was all part of the process. "In the 100 free,  could I have found an extra .06 of second?, I don't know, but Jack and Chris deserve those spots on Team UA."
Heading through the procession for the 50 free, his first defense run from the Tokyo Olympics, Dressel was second to Chris Guliano in the semifinal with a 21.61 split to Guliano's 21.59, but, in the final Dressel went even faster with a 21.41 to beat Guiliano's 21.69 as runner-up.
Just 34 minutes later, Dressel lined up in the 100 butterfly semifinal in a dramatic quick turnaround that would push Dressel's international status one more level.
In the semifinal, Dressel stormed the final 20 meters with his well-known no-breathing sprint surge to outtouch a prerace favorite, California's Dare Rose, with a 50.79 winning time to Rose's 51.11 with Heilman qualifying in seventh place in the heat with a 51.58.
In the final the next day, with Clay High fans watching at the Fleming Island Eleven22 Church Watch Party, Dressel looked the Dressel of old with his lightning start and the fastest first 50 of the night, then his usual mid-50 surge for the win in 50.19 seconds with Heilman second at 50.80 and Rose third at 50.84.