Caeleb Dressel keeps the gold medals going.
Dressel set a world record in the 100-meter fly on Friday night, winning his third gold medal of the Olympics. A little more than an hour later, Dressel and Ryan Murphy, a friend from the 904, teamed up in the 4x100 mixed medley relay but finished a disappointing fifth to end Dressel’s quest for a perfect Olympics and six gold medals.
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But for Dressel, it’s not quite done yet.
Dressel will swim for another individual medal on Saturday night in the 50 free and likely another on the 4x100 medley relay team.
Medals there would give Dressel five for the Games.
His effort on Friday night was a spectacular show of endurance, a three-event evening all spaced out across 73 minutes.
Dressel hit the split in 23 seconds and finished in 49.45 to beat Kristof Hun Milak (49.68) in the 100 fly. Dressel’s time broke a previous world record he set (49.71) on July 26, 2019.
After winning his second individual gold of the Games and squeezing in a semifinal of the 50 free, which he won in 21.42, Dressel was at it again.
Dressel teamed up Bolles grad and former Bolles Sharks club teammate Murphy in the 4x100 mixed medley relay, a two-man, two-woman event making its Olympics debut.
Murphy led off with the backstroke and finished his leg in 52.23, which put the Americans in first, but the female swimmers struggled after that.
Lydia Jacoby dove in for her breaststroke on the second, but her goggles came off as she hit the water and the team dropped to sixth. Jacoby finished her leg in 1:05.09.
Torri Huske couldn’t make up ground in the fly (56.27) and fell to eighth. Dressel’s final leg of 46.99 in the free pulled the team into fifth, but out of medal range. Great Britain set the world record in 3:37.58, a full 3 seconds in front of the American squad.
Dressel won his first gold on Sunday night swimming the lead leg of the 4x100 freestyle relay team and won the 100 freestyle on Wednesday night. He had two gold medals from the 2016 Olympics in Rio, both in relay events.
Among swimmers with area ties on Team USA, Murphy won the bronze medal in the 100 backstroke on Monday night and took silver in the 200 back on Thursday night. Murphy had three gold medals in Rio (100 and 200 back and a relay)