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Florida Gators' Caeleb Dressel wins record 3 golds in one day at swim worlds

 
United States' Caeleb Remel Dressel celebrates after winning the gold medal in the men's 100-meter butterfly final during the swimming competitions of the World Aquatics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, Saturday, July 29, 2017. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek) FOS134
United States' Caeleb Remel Dressel celebrates after winning the gold medal in the men's 100-meter butterfly final during the swimming competitions of the World Aquatics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, Saturday, July 29, 2017. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek) FOS134
Published July 29, 2017

BUDAPEST, Hungary — Caeleb Dressel knows the comparisons are coming.

After pulling off an unprecedented Triple Crown at swimming's world championships, it's time to take on the legacy of Michael Phelps.

The Florida Gators swimmer, 20, established himself as America's newest star of the pool Saturday, becoming the first to win three gold medals on a single night at either the worlds or Olympics.

Not even Phelps managed such a feat.

"The comparisons are probably inevitable," Dressel said. "But I'm not the same person as Michael."

Yet it was downright Phelps-like the way he pulled off a remarkable night of swimming at Duna Arena. Dressel raced three times over about two hours and won every time. Not to mention, he had to find time to warm down and get to three medal ceremonies.

"I think I only had to run twice," Dressel said, smiling.

The Gators senior — he has an algebra exam Monday that he'll be taking online — has won six golds medals in Budapest.

That gives him a shot at moving into more rarified territory: Phelps is the only swimmer to win seven golds at a world championships, which he did in 2007 as a prelude to his record eight golds the following year at the Beijing Olympics.

Dressel is a virtual lock to win his seventh when he competes on the 400-meter medley relay Sunday, the final event of the championships.

Again, those comparisons to Phelps.

"It's a tough question," said Dressel, a native of Green Cove Springs in northeast Florida who attended Clay County High and trained with the Jacksonville Bolles club team. "I don't know if I welcome them. But I know they're going to come. I don't think it puts any pressure on me. I just want to keep doing my thing at this meet and for the future."

Phelps was impressed.

He texted his congratulations shortly after Dressel led off a world-record performance in the 400 mixed freestyle relay, capping a night that also included victories in the 50 free and the 100 butterfly.

"This kid is on fire!!" Phelps wrote on Instagram, including a picture of him celebrating with Dressel during a gold medal-winning relay both were on last summer at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

Dressel won two Olympics golds in relays last year. At this year's NCAA championships, he won three titles, in the 50 free, 100 free and 100 butterfly, bringing his total of national individual titles to five.

Dressel started the night with a furious dash from one end of the pool to the other, adding the 50 free world title to the 100 free he already had. He came back about a half-hour later to nearly break Phelps' world record in the 100 fly, posting a time of 49.86 seconds that was just four-hundredths off the mark set in 2009 at the rubber-suit-aided championships in Rome.

The final relay was merely a coronation, the Americans romping to gold in 3 minutes, 19.60 seconds, eclipsing by nearly 31/2 seconds the mark they set two years ago at worlds.

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"Man, that was a lot of fun," Dressel said.

Dressel has emerged as the breakout performer of these championships, with a bit of help from the relatively new mixed relays. Two of his golds have come in events that feature men and women on the same team, races Phelps never competed in at worlds.

"It's crazy," Dressel said. "But I had mixed relays helping me out, so it's a bit different."

Yet no less impressive.

Dressel led off the mixed free relay with a blistering time of 47.22 for the first 100 — even more remarkable given what he'd already been through — and his three teammates — Nathan Adrian, Mallory Comerford and Simone Manuel — took it from there.

"That last relay was a lot of fun," Dressel said. "I wanted to lead it off, even though it meant less to get ready for it. It was such a blast."

The whole night was.

"I haven't had much time to think," Dressel said, pondering the significance of it all. "As physically demanding as it is, mentally it's even more straining. So I have 24 hours until my next swim. I'll give myself 30 minutes tonight to, I guess, let it sink in a bit, then it's time to refocus for that relay tomorrow."