Los Angeles (United States) (AFP) – Nine-time Olympic gold medallist Caeleb Dressel and world record-holder Gretchen Walsh closed the US Swimming Championships with impressive 50m freestyle victories in Irvine, California, on Saturday. Dressel posted his fastest 50m free time in four years with a victory in 21.35sec, four-tenths of a second quicker than runner-up Quintin McCarty. He captured his second title of the week after a victory in the 100m free, his first triumph in a major meeting since the 2024 Olympic trials. Dressel followed that with second places in the 50m and 100m butterfly.
Walsh powered to victory in 23.60sec, just outside the world record of 23.55 she set at the Sette Colli Trophy in Rome on June 28. “Honestly, I just wanted to execute it really well,” Walsh said. “I feel like I’ve had a great summer in that event already and it’s not over yet. So this is a great tune-up for Pan Pacs in two weeks.”
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Walsh’s world record last month came a week after training partner Kate Douglass had lowered the world record to 23.59sec at the Pro Swim Series at Indianapolis. Douglass opted not to swim the 50m free on Saturday. But she and Walsh will be back in the same Irvine pool in August representing the United States in the Pan Pacific Championships — where they’ll be up against top swimmers from Australia, Japan, Canada, and other non-European nations.
Dressel, who took a break from the sport after the 2024 Paris Olympics, didn’t qualify for the US Pan Pacs team, which was decided based on times last year. But the American, who turns 30 in August, was enthusiastic about what the week showed about the state of his swimming. “We’ll keep getting quicker,” he said. “It’s a really exciting year, just so much new.”
© 2024 AFP
