LOS ANGELES: Seven-time Olympic champion Caeleb Dressel shook off his doubts and earned a shot a defending is 50 metres freestyle title in Paris after powering home first in the event known as the splash and dash at the US Olympic trials in Indianapolis on Friday.

Dressel, who missed out on the chance to defend his 100 metres free crown after a disappointing third-place finish, would not be denied in the 50, getting to the wall first in 21.41 seconds to the roaring approval of another large crowd at Lucas Oil Stadium, home of the NFL Indianapolis Colts.

The victory capped a long, often rocky road back to the top for the seven-time Olympic gold medallist, who stepped away from the sport abruptly in 2022.

“I knew it was one of my toughest nights,” said Dressel. “[I was] not feeling great or anything special, so I just had to gut it out tonight.”

Chris Guiliano, winner of the 100 free, will also race the 50 in Paris, snatching second from Matt King by 0.001 seconds.

Regan Smith added to her Paris workload capturing a third individual event the 200 backstroke in dominating fashion, demolishing a field that included swimmers who had recorded six of top 10 times this year.

Smith, who blitzed to the 100 backstroke world record on Tuesday and then won the 200 butterfly on Thursday, made it three wins, getting home first unchallenged in a time of two minutes, 5.16 seconds, more than a second clear of second-place finisher Phoebe Bacon.

“It’s night and day difference between 2021 [Tokyo Olympics] and now,” said Smith, who won three medals in Tokyo but none of them gold. “I ran out of gas a bit at the end of that last race but it’s been a great week for me.”

Carson Foster, Paris-bound as winner of the 400m individual medley, powered home on the closing freestyle leg to win the 200m individual medley in 1:55.65.

Shaine Casas had dominated the opening butterfly and backstroke legs to build a lead and still held a slim advantage as they turned for home after the breaststroke.

He delivered a gritty final freestyle lap to finish second in 1:55.83 and make his first Olympic team in his final chance of the week.

“This means everything,” said Casas, fighting to control his emotions. “Since I was a kid this was all I dreamed about, now I don’t have to pretend and dream about being an Olympian. I am an Olympian.”

Published in Dawn, June 23rd, 2024