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Watch Caeleb Dressel Become First Man Under :40 in 100 Free

2018 MEN’S NCAA SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

Caeleb Dressel has broken every major barrier he could have this weekend, including a 17.63 50 free, 42.80 100 fly, and now, a 39.90 100 free. Watch the video below, courtesy of ESPN, to see him become the first man under :40.

Orignally reported by Lauren Neidigh.

Florida’s Caeleb Dressel has been smashing barriers all week. Dressel, a senior, set out to make history individually one last time for the Gators in tonight’s 100 free final. After a scorching 40.00 last season, he set out to be the first man to break 40 seconds. Dressel exceeded expectations as usual, surging to an incredible 39.90 to win the final.

Dressel’s Splits:

  • 1st 50 Split- 18.96
  • 2nd 50 Split- 20.94
  • Final Time- 39.90

While Dressel dominated the field, NC State’s Ryan Held had an awesome swim in his own right. Held swam to a 41.08, clipping his best time by .01 and tying Olympic champion Nathan Adrian as the 5th fastest man ever.

ALL-TIME TOP 10 PERFORMERS: MEN’S 100 YARD FREE

PLACE SWIMMER TIME
1 Caeleb Dressel 39.90
2 Vlad Morozov 40.76
3 Cesar Cielo 40.92
4 Michael Chadwick 40.95
5 Nathan Adrian 41.08
5 Ryan Held 41.08
7 Blake Pieroni 41.16
8 Simonas Bilis 41.18
9 Ryan Hoffer 41.23
10 Tate Jackson 41.27
11 Justin Ress 41.34

ALL-TIME TOP 10 PERFORMANCES: MEN’S 100 YARD FREE

PLACE SWIMMER TIME
1 Caeleb Dressel 39.90
2 Caeleb Dressel 40.00
3 Caeleb Dressel 40.46
4 Caeleb Dressel 40.48
5 Caeleb Dressel 40.68
6 Vlad Morozov 40.76
7 Caeleb Dressel 40.86
8 Caeleb Dressel 40.87
9 Cesar Cielo 40.92
10 Michael Chadwick 40.95

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AvidSwimFan
6 years ago

You can just see the exhaustion. Still very impressive!

Nick Gearhart
6 years ago

Did Matt Biondi ever split 39.9 on a 4 x 100 free or medley relay?

Chris
6 years ago

The call was not right. No one should have been talking about him breaking a 39. It almost made it sound like breaking a 40 wasn’t a big deal. No one had ever done that so why the talk about going under 39.

Hswimmer
6 years ago

I hope he swims the WC circuit

Philip
Reply to  Hswimmer
6 years ago

Me too. He would destroy some short course 25m records.

Reply to  Philip
6 years ago

And then SC Worlds in December…the medal potential would be absolutely insane.

Pvdh
Reply to  James Sutherland
6 years ago

50/100 free, 50/100 fly, 100/200IM, 50/100 breast, and perhaps 200 free are all record I think he could get if he was able to focus on them. But 50/100 breast will likely never be swum by him. Everything else is fair game.

Coach Mike 1952
6 years ago

Correct if inaccurate, but it seemed that the crowd reaction was more one of relief than sheer ecstasy. Like a “whew”, kind of mirroring Caeleb’s own fatigued water slap. This is not like what we have seen from him before (Budapest, earlier this meet, etc.). Perhaps his groin situation was more of a factor than anyone let on, hence another part of his relief at having achieved a significant milestone even when injured? SUPER swim & SUPER DUPER week nonetheless!!!

Honest observer
6 years ago

Having Dressel swim the way he did the past few days is sort of like what would happen if you had a time machine and got to plunk the 2004 version of Michael Phelps down in the middle of the 1984 Olympics. All the excitement of watching, say, Jon Sieben pass by Michael Gross in the 200 fly with a new WR of 1:57.0 would have been lost with this monster in their midst who went a 1:54.0. The thrill of seeing Gross win the 100 fly in a new WR of 53.08 would shift to confusion about the interloper who just went a 51.2. And it wouldn’t be the normal amazement at a new WR, the standard reaction of… Read more »

Philip
Reply to  Honest observer
6 years ago

Very Beamonesque is it? As one competitor said to Beamon, “You have destroyed this event.”

Pvdh
Reply to  Philip
6 years ago

I said this before and I’ll say this again. Frederick Bousquet broke 19 13 years ago with an 18.74 in a body suit. In the 13 years since, excluding Caeleb, the 50 free has been brought down 0.27 seconds by Cesar Cielo to 18.47, also in a body suit. 0.27 seconds in 13 years. That’s the non-caeleb progress. Caeleb? 1.11 seconds in that time. He broke the event. The difference between him and the next fastest in the 50, is virtually the same as him and the next fastest in the 100 (a .84 second difference in the 50 and a .86 second difference in the 100 – Vlad Morozov’s 40.76 is the next fastest person).

He beat the field… Read more »

Yozhik
Reply to  Philip
6 years ago

This one competitor was a world record holder.

anonymoose
Reply to  Honest observer
6 years ago

you can be proud of any time, lets say a 24.0 in a 50free. pride comes from within, knowing you did your best at that time (just like dressel maybe wouldnt have been proud of an 18.3 for example).
what other people say or think in that regard isnt very important or least it shouldnt be, especially if they these other people are “non swimming people”.

so imo dressels swims dont devalue anything bc performance isnt a currency, its rather that they are now an even bigger motivation/inspiration to others than his old records already were.

Dansad
6 years ago

The way he slaps the water at the end says it all. Tired.

JVJ
6 years ago

I wish I could watch this race without the camera changing views every couple of seconds. Do we really need NINE camera changes in a 39s race?!!

About Torrey Hart

Torrey Hart

Torrey is from Oakland, CA, and majored in media studies and American studies at Claremont McKenna College, where she swam distance freestyle for the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps team. Outside of SwimSwam, she has bylines at Sports Illustrated, Yahoo Sports, SB Nation, and The Student Life newspaper.

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