Caeleb Dressel Sets Olympic Record For Gold in 50m Freestyle originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
America has officially found its next men’s swimming star.
Caeleb Dressel made that perfectly clear with yet another dominant performance, this time to capture gold in the 50m freestyle.
In all, Dressel won five gold medals in Tokyo — 50m and 100m freestyle, 100m butterfly, 4x100m freestyle and 4x100m medley.
It was a Michael Phelps-esque performance for the 24-year-old swimmer, who is looking to fill the void left by the recently retired legend. Dressel now has seven golds in his Olympic career.
Dressel exploded off the block in the 50m freestyle, jumping ahead on the initial start and never surrendering the lead. He didn’t come up for air once during the race.
The final results saw Dressel post a 21.07-second time, good for an Olympic record and well ahead of French silver medalist Florent Manaudou (21.55) and Brazilian bronze medalist Bruno Fratus (21.57).
Dressel leaves no doubt exiting Tokyo — he is the world’s fastest swimmer, and he is Team USA’s next men’s swimming icon.