Caeleb Dressel joins elite company with fifth Olympic swimming gold
Caeleb Dressel made Olympic history on the final day of swimming events at the Summer Games in Tokyo.
Dressel claimed his third individual gold medal and fifth overall in two separate events on Sunday. The American set a new Olympic record in the 50m freestyle final with a time of 21.07. That event earned him his third individual gold and fourth overall.
That left the 4×100 medley relay, where Dressel swam the butterfly. According to USA Swimming, his 49.03 split was the fastest in American history for that particular split.
Fastest 100m butterfly relay splits in history per @USASwimming
Caeleb Dressel 49.03 (2021 Olympics)
Dressel 49.28 (2019 Worlds)
Dressel 49.33 (2019 Worlds) Michael Phelps 49.72 (2009 Worlds)— Nick Zaccardi (@nzaccardi) August 1, 2021
With the help of teammates Ryan Murphy, Michael Andrew, and Zach Apple, the Americans won the event and got Dressel his fifth Olympic gold medal. It made him the fifth Olympian ever to win at least five swimming medals in one Olympics, joining Mark Spitz in 1972, Kristin Otto and Matt Biondi in 1988, and Michael Phelps, who accomplished the feat three times.
Dressel took on a grueling schedule, too, but it never seemed to impact him. He’s put himself right up there with the very best in history, and deservedly so.