INDIANAPOLIS — Caeleb Dressel won the men’s 50-meter freestyle at the U.S. Olympic swimming trials on Friday night, earning his first individual race of the Paris Games.
After finishing third in the 100 freestyle, Dressel secured a spot in the relay and now has the chance to defend his 50 free title in Paris. He finished with a time of 21.41 seconds, with Chris Guiliano coming in second with a time of 21.69.
Regan Smith secured a spot in the Olympics by winning the 200 backstroke. Despite starting strong and being under world-record pace, Smith finished ahead of Phoebe Bacon and Claire Curzan.
Smith, who previously set a world record in the 100 backstroke, narrowly missed out on a fourth individual race in Paris. She described her performance as proud but admitted to running out of gas in the last race.
It was a busy night for Dressel, who also competed in the semifinals of the 100 butterfly. Meanwhile, Guiliano emerged as a star of the trials, qualifying for his first Olympics with three individual events.
