Facts about US Swim Star Caeleb Dressel

In swimming, there was no way around US swimmer Caeleb Dressel over the short distances in recent years. His impressive collection of titles:

• 7x gold at the 2017 World Swimming Championships
• 6x gold and 2x silver at the World Swimming Championships 2019
• 2x relay gold at the 2016 Olympics.

He currently holds two individual world records (50m freestyle and 100m butterfly) and is part of two relay world records (4x50m freestyle, 4x100m freestyle)

So it's no wonder that Dressel was the top favorite at the Olympic Games in Tokyo. He started in the following six disciplines and impressed across the board by winning five gold medals and a new world record:

• Gold medal in 50m freestyle
• Gold medal in 100m freestyle
• Gold medal in 100m butterfly
• Gold medal in 4x 100m freestyle (relay)
• Gold medal and new world record (3: 26.78 minutes) in 4x 100m medley (relay)
• 4x 100m mixed (relay)

Sports stars like to use social media to show themselves at their best and work on their own brand. The result: a social media mishmash of impressions of success and glamour. Caeleb Dressel takes a completely different approach. On his own YouTube channel, he takes a look at his own races and analyzes what he could have done better - from jumping to swimming technique to tactical approach. When Dressel calls his own performance "atrocious," he becomes his biggest critic.

But it's not just his own technique that the US swimmer puts to the test. For "GQ", the 24-year-old recently took swimming scenes from Hollywood films to judge them from the perspective of a world-class swimmer. The swimming scenes from films like Cast Away, Kingsman, Sex Education and many others did not come off particularly well.

As a top swimmer from the USA, Caeleb Dressel literally conjures up comparisons to record Olympic champion Michael Phelps. But the imaginary trial of strength with "The Baltimore Bullet" leaves Dressel completely cold. The question of whether he is comparable to Phelps is "completely irrelevant" to him. Dressel uses the eternal GOAT discussion about NBA stars Michael Jordan and LeBron James as a parable: "Look, I turn on the TV to watch LeBron. I don't care if he's better than Jordan. He's great at what he does. Why does it matter if he's better than MJ or not?"

Anyway, Phelps' fabulous tally of 23 Olympic gold medals is still a long way off.

Caeleb Dressel is a perfectionist. No wonder the Florida-born swimmer has integrated some fixed rituals into his daily routine over the years. Every night he allows himself 8.5 hours of sleep. In addition, he writes in two notebooks in the evening: one in a diary, the other in his swimming log including a self-grading of the day's performance. For Instagram, Dressel gives himself 15 minutes a day. He has banned Snapchat, Facebook and Twitter from his smartphone. In exchange, Dressel picks up at least one piece of trash every day. "I know that sounds stupid. But these little habits are one of the reasons I'm so successful in this sport. For me, just like my successes in the sport, these mindless, small acts are like small change that you throw into a piggy bank," Dressel told "GQ."

Caeleb Dressel started dating Meghan Haila as a teenager. Since 2013 they are a couple. At that time, both were still working out together in high school. In November 2019, the two announced their engagement, followed by their wedding in February 2021. Meghan Haila Dressel did not pursue her swimming career. She is now a couples and family therapist.

Before the 2020 Olympic Games, Dressel's annual income is estimated at around three million dollars. The swimming star has long been able to attract major corporations as sponsors. An overview of his sponsors:

• Speedo
• Toyota
• Coca-Cola
• Nobull
• Comcast
• Hershey's
• Bodies in Balance Acupuncture