Seven-time Olympic gold medalist Caeleb Dressel struggles in first race after long layoff

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Caeleb Dressel dropped farther and farther behind, a far cry from the dominant swimmer he was at the last Olympics.

In his first major competition since a long layoff, Dressel finished 29th in the preliminaries of the 100-meter freestyle at the U.S. nationals on Tuesday, not even close to qualifying for the world championships in an event he won in Tokyo two years ago.

Dressel touched the wall behind all seven other swimmers in the last of eight morning heats.

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Caeleb Dressel looks up after swimming the mens 100 butterfly during the Speedo Atlanta Classic finals Friday, May 12, 2023, in Atlanta. Dressel finished 29th in the 100-meter freestyle at the U.S. nationals on Tuesday, June 27, falling far short of qualifying for the world championships in an event he won at the Tokyo Olympics.  (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson, File)

His time of 49.42 seconds was a whopping 1.79 behind top qualifier Ryan Held, who swam one heat earlier, and a sobering reminder of how far Dressel has to go after walking away from swimming last summer during the world championships in Budapest, Hungary.

He didn't come close to making the U.S. team in the 100 free for next month's worlds in Fukuoka, Japan. Dressel's time at the IUPUI Natatorium was nearly 2.5 seconds off his gold medal-winning performance (47.02) at the Tokyo Games two summers ago.

Dressel was one of the biggest stars at those Olympics, winning five gold medals.

But the 26-year-old Floridian mysteriously left the sport for an extended break and only returned to competition only last month at a minor meet in Atlanta.

Clearly, Dressel has a long road