By: Zixian Huang

Caeleb Dressel, a seven-time Olympic champion swimmer and world record holder of the 100-metre butterfly, will finally starts competing after an 8-month break.

Last June, Dressel virtually disappeared from the sport because of an undisclosed health issue. “The easiest way to put it, my body kept score. There were a lot of things I shoved down and all came boiling up, so I didn’t really have a choice,” he said. Dressel’s swim club coach Anthony Nesty described the gold medalist’s time away as a mental health break.

He wanted to enjoy swimming without the fear of messing up. “There is a difference between racing scared because you don’t want to embarrass yourself and then actually enjoying racing. And I haven’t had that enjoyment in quite some time, so it was nice having it back,” he said.

And it seems that, over his mental health break and with the help of his therapist, Dressel had gotten over the fear and was ready to get back into swimming. “I needed every day I got [away from swimming], needed every minute I got,” he said. “But I missed it almost every day. Missed the little things in the sport—blowing bubbles, my toes on the grip tape [on the starting block]. I missed the chlorine, believe it or not—I hate chlorine—and that’s how I knew I wanted to get back. I didn’t need to, I wanted to.”

Dressel attended the national championship meet in Indianapolis from June 27-July 1, but because of the loss of strength and fitness during his break, Dressel failed to qualify for the world championships for the first time since 2015.

In the meet, he finished 3rd for the 50-meter butterfly, 5th for the 100-meter butterfly, 19th in the 100-meter freestyle, and capped the week when Dressel tied 22nd for the preliminaries for the 50-meter fly. However, Dressel was indifferent with his results. “I’m really good right now,” he said to a group of reporters, “A little embarrassed, like, what just happened? But then also fully understanding of what just happened and the year I’ve had. I get it.”

Sources: After a Mental Health Break, Caeleb Dressel Returns to the Pool – The New York Times

Caeleb Dressel Is Finally Content – Sports Illustrated

Olympic champion Dressel fails to qualify for world championships | Reuters