This is a post I wrote in 2021 during the Tokyo Olympics. Caeleb Dressel had seven Olympic Gold Medals at the time and was known as “Captain America.” Fast forward to 2024 and he began the Olympics earning a gold medal in the 4 X 100 free relay. I was so happy for him making a comeback. He took time off to get through mental health issues and found joy again in swimming. He also got married and the Dressels have a baby boy.
This past week, he had a heartbreaking day where he didn’t win a medal in the 50 free or even qualify for the 100 fly finals. NBC zoomed in on his face as he cried. I thought that was totally out of line.
Saturday, Dressel earned his ninth gold for the mixed relay where men and women swim. My daughter’s opinion was this: On Dressel’s bad day, he shouldn’t have swam the 100 fly on the mixed relay. He had two 100 fly’s and a 50 free to swim that day. As a sprinter, that’s a heavy load. On Sunday, Dressel swam the 4 X 100 medley relay and had the fastest 100 fly time. That was his last event and the relay earned silver. Without Dressel’s 100 fly fast swim, the US might not have medaled.
From my 2021 post:
I wrote a an article called Why Isn’t Caeleb Dressel a Household Name? for SwimSwam in 2018. Dressel had competed in NCAA championships and had broken barriers like the 40-second mark in the 100-yard freestyle. But at the time, only swim nerds knew his name.
After the Tokyo Olympics, I’m sure he will be better known, but after the Olympics fades away will his name fade, too?
Swimming like gymnastics are collegiate sports and there’s not much attention to them until Olympic years. It all comes down to money in my opinion. Football and basketball are money makers for schools. Swimming loses revenue. No fans are buying tickets, the meets are free and sparsely attended. The pool costs money to maintain.
During my years as a swim parent, I wondered how to get swimming to be more popular. In 2019 the International Swimming League began holding competitions.There are teams in the US and abroad filled with the world’s swimming stars. The teams compete against each other and it gives swimmers a chance to earn money, race and hopefully get more fans to appreciate swimming. But it isn’t televised, at least I haven’t seen it. I think it’s live streamed.
Here’s a post from X that I loved on Sunday, August 4, 2024. It’s from my editor at SwimSwam:
Here’s the article I wrote that mentions Caeleb Dressel and wonders how to get more people into swimming:
Why isn’t Caeleb Dressel a household name?
BY SWIMSWAM
March 27th, 2018 Lifestyle
Courtesy of Elizabeth Wickham
We witnessed amazing things this past weekend watching the 2018 Men’s D1 NCAA meet. Who can believe that a human being broke 40 seconds in the 100 free, or 18 seconds in the 50 free—not to mention 43 seconds in the 100 fly? Caeleb Dressel should be a household name this week after breaking through these barriers at his final meet as a senior swimming for the University of Florida.
We watched from home on the computer, something that wasn’t possible years ago. The live stream was clear, the narration entertaining and professional. I remember trying to watch one of our friend’s kids at Trials in 2008 and the production quality wasn’t great and the livestream paused repeatedly. Swim coverage has improved significantly through the years, but I wonder if the audience has increased?
Of course, Olympic sports don’t get the attention at the collegiate level as the big money sports, like football and basketball. In addition, we hear heartbreaking news of universities canceling swim programs regardless of high GPAs or how many times the teams win conference meets, like the recent news of Eastern Michigan University. We have to wait every four years for the Olympics to come around to show the nation how great our swimmers are. Is there anything we can do as swim enthusiasts to change this? In all reality, probably not much. I personally don’t have the power to change TV schedules or viewing habits, but I can work on several little things.
Here are a few ideas about how we can help the popularity of swimming:
ONE
Scorekeeping. We’ve had friends come to meets and they don’t know what’s going on because there’s never a score posted. In other sports, you know which team is winning. Is it possible to post scores often and prominently at meets where they are keeping team scores?
TWO
Bring a friend to the pool. Whether your team has a “bring a friend day” or you ask one of your child’s friends to visit practice, we can reach out to more kids and introduce them to swimming.
THREE
Keep swimming fun. One reason why kids quit swimming is it’s “not fun anymore.” By allowing our kids time to goof off with their friends around the pool deck, either before or after practice, and keeping our attitudes light, we may keep our kids in the pool for more years.
FOUR
Invite friends and family to a meet. We can share our excitement and enthusiasm with our friends and family. Maybe not ask them to sit on the deck with us for two or three days, but have them stop by for an hour or two. Explain what’s going on so they can follow along and maybe they’ll catch the swimming bug.
FIVE
Be an ambassador. Talk about swimming with your non-swimming friends and share how much the sport has helped your kids. Encourage friends at any age to get into the pool and enjoy the great feeling of floating in the water. It’s never too late to join a Masters team.
Are you watching the Olympics? What are your favorite sports to watch? Do you keep track of those sports on off Olympic years? Also, what do you think of this year’s Olympics with all the ups, downs, and drama?
I was saying yesterday that him swimming in that relay heat was a mistake.
I didn’t realize it until our daughter mentioned it.
I don’t think that I’ve ever actively followed any Olympics but I do listen to the news recaps. Honestly EA I feel the most respect for the individuals/countries that come out of nowhere and secure wins that no one ever expects to happen. Those are the awe inspiring stories for me of competition like the Olympics.
I know very little (okay nothing) about athletes (amateurs or pros) other than how and what is portrayed in the media. What the individuals go through, the overwhelming commitments they often make that impact their lives, the trends now involving billions of dollars for collegiate programs, brands, endorsements… Unlike other topics, my focus isn’t on sports so I don’t really give more than a passing notice to any/all controversy/drama/glory that happens. I do see the faces of the athletes though and my thoughts always go to their lives behind the scenes of glory or disappointment and wonder how they cope, what drives them and why, and even who they are truly doing all of it for.
I agree that the athletes who come from tiny countries and get medals for the first time for their nation are inspiring. I’ve followed Caeleb since he was a stand out swimmer in high school. We watched him swim at meets with our daughter. I always liked his humble personality.
You seem knowledgeable about the topic, so I’m curious: what is your opinion about hosting of the Olympic games?
Ha! I have no thoughts about hosting. I do know that open water swimming will be in the Seine River which is polluted. That worries me. Our daughter competed in Open Water Nationals in CA and FL in lakes which were clean.
ikr? I read somewhere that the Siene has been so polluted that swimming in it was disallowed for decades!
For at least 100 years!
😳😳😳
Two more questions, if I may:
1) Why do you think Olympics bring so much attention to events like gymnastics, swimming, and track, amd the world championships, that I thought “mattered more” to the athletes, don’t get a similar level of attention?
2) What do you think about the new events they’re introducing to the Olympics, like break dancing?
Your second question first. Yes, I like the new “sports.” As for the attention to the Olympic sports, I’m afraid that in the US, collegiate athletics is changing and sports like swimming and gymnastics will go by the wayside. Already men’s gymnastics has been cut at many schools. In the PAC 12, where my daughter swam, only five universities had men’s swimming. With the NIL the PAC 12 doesn’t exist and the SEC and Big 10 have limited the number of swimmers per team. Without college opportunities these Olympic sports will disappear. At least in our country. That doesn’t answer your question exactly…
Why do you think there’s less of an interest/emphasis/funding for swimming and gymnastics? The place looked packed at the Olympics for gymnastics, no?
Because those sports have to compete for dollars with football and basketball. Swimming and gymnastics don’t generate dollars. Pools cost millions of dollars to maintain. With NIL, the universities now have to pay their star athletes.
It just seems that there’s quite a bit of attention and endorsements to gymnasts like Simone Biles, she, and her colleagues, can pack a stadium (at the Olympics) day after day. It’s fast moving… Why wouldn’t that get $$$s?
You’re correct. At my daughter’s university, women’s gymnastics had 15,000 in attendance every meet and is the most attended women’s collegiate sport. But there’s no men’s team. With Title IX football, basketball and baseball take up all the spots for male athletes and the Olympic sports are hurt. I think women’s gymnastics will be around, but men’s gymnastics only has 11 schools in D1.
Love your ideas about how to get more engagement, Elizabeth. And I have another – have you provide the announcing. I loved your summary of Caleb’s journey to the medal stand in this Olympics!
Thank you! Im a huge Caeleb fan ever since our daughter was in high school and swam at a meet with him in NC. He was rushed to the hospital twice by ambulance for breathing issues and would come back and swim!
I’ve missed a lot of the events this year due to travel but have caught some of the highlights. Athletes always inspire me to push harder, get out there, try new things. I can’t imagine what it must feel like to be the best in the world in a sport, skill, or anything. The events are magical. Hugs, C
I watched the swimming because I still know some of the athletes. The ones they call “old” competed at meets with our daughter.
This year, I haven’t watched any Olympic event. Perhaps it’s the depression over the genocide in Palestine or the political situation in my country, I can’t generate any enthusiasm for it.
I’m sorry to hear that. 🙏
It’s sad.
I admit I don’t watch the Olympics. I admire all the athletes tremendously, but the televised coverage has become too much
It was so confusing this year to find what I wanted to watch.
I know. That’s part of my problem. Plus, we don’t use peacock
I signed up for Peacock for the Olympics and Olympic Trials. I think it is too overwhelming.
Even on Hulu it’s on like 20 different places. Too many choices is as bad as too few
Exactly!
Hi Elizabeth, with your children being active in sports, I can see why you’d have a huge interest in the Olympics. We’ve watched some, in fact, they’re on right now. 🙂 The athletes are truly amazing. Great post!
Thanks! I remember watching many of the swimmers at meets in high school years and college.