Caeleb Dressel, Leon Marchand Take on Fort Lauderdale in Historic First For Men’s Swimming
Only four male swimmers ever have won three or more individual gold medals at a single Olympics. This weekend’s Pro Series meet in Fort Lauderdale will mark the first occasion with two such champions competing, not including the final days of the Paris Games after Leon Marchand made history in front an adoring French crowd at La Défense Arena with four Olympic gold medals. He finished just off his own world record in the 400 IM while becoming the second-fastest man ever in the 200 butterfly, 200 breaststroke and 200 IM.
The Fort Lauderdale meet will be the first long course meet for Marchand since Paris, with the 22-year-old’s only competitions since coming in short course meters on the World Cup circuit last fall. Marchand cut his season short in favor of a well-deserved break but not before he broke his lone world record of the year, taking down a long-standing Ryan Lochte mark in the short course 200 IM.
As for Caeleb Dressel, he will be entering competitive waters for the first time since his third Games last summer. The American was nowhere close to his heights from three years earlier, when gold medals in both sprint freestyle events plus the 100 butterfly put him in a club previously including only Mark Spitz (1972) and Michael Phelps (2004 and 2008). Still, Dressel’s two relay golds gave him nine for his career, putting him in a six-way tie for second all-time for all sports. His finest performance came in the finale; rebounding from disappointing results in his individual events, Dressel split 49.41 on the butterfly leg of the U.S. men’s 400 medley relay, earning a silver medal for his efforts.
In their respective quests to become all-time greats of the sport, the two have rarely crossed paths in the pool. Marchand began his astounding college career at Arizona State three years after Dressel finished up his record-breaking run for the Florida Gators. Marchand’s breakout long course meet was the 2022 World Championships, the meet where Dressel departed early due to mental health concerns. The swimmers have raced together in exactly one major international final, the aforementioned Olympic medley relay when France finished three tenths back of the Americans for bronze.
Now, the two swimmers aim for the summer 2025 championship season at vastly different points in their swimming journeys. It was unclear how Dressel would proceed following his long buildup just to reach Paris, but his inclusion in this meet is another indicator that he plans to participate in the selection meet for the World Championships in Singapore in June. That would mean a return to Indianapolis, the city where Dressel qualified for his third Olympics last year but also the pool where Dressel found himself swimming in a C-final at the 2023 national meet, only a few months after his return to training following the mental-health-focused layoff.
Dressel has continued his positive life momentum since. In a recent interview with Swimming World promoting his partnership with suit company deboer, Dressel said, “I don’t think my confidence has wavered in any way. My chapters in life are always changing and this year is no exception. I love where I am at in life and certainly where I am at with swimming.”
He is scheduled to swim the 50 and 100-meter races of freestyle and butterfly in Fort Lauderdale, and it’s likely he will remain focused on these races for the rest of his career. The addition of the 50 fly to the Olympic slate was surely welcome news for Dressel; he is a two-time world champion in the event (2019 and 2022), and it might be his best race at this stage of his career. We’ll see about his form in 2025, but having two chances in 50s at the 2028 Olympics could be the motivation for Dressel to remain in the spot until Los Angeles.
Leon Marchand with one of his Olympic gold medals — Photo Courtesy: Giorgio Scala / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto
Marchand, on the other hand, is at a stage certainly familiar to Dressel, seeing if he can expand his repertoire beyond his four gold-medal events while pushing the boundaries in the events he has already conquered. Shortly after Paris, coach Bob Bowman said, “I don’t think he’s anything near what he’s capable of doing. I think there are definitely things that he can change and continue to develop over time, and in the next four years. I think there’s plenty of room for him to go fast.”
Marchand has recently joined up again with Bowman, now coaching at the University of Texas, and his training group includes NCAA-record crusher and Olympic gold medalist Hubert Kos plus the swimmers responsible for one-third of the individual medals won by the American men in Paris, Carson Foster and Luke Hobson. He is scheduled for both individual medley events this week plus the 200 breaststroke, and he will also dip his toe into mid-distance freestyle.
The top American men in both the 200 and 400 free will welcome Marchand to their signature events in Fort Lauderdale, with the 200-meter field including three of the four swimmers who led the U.S. to 800 free relay silver in Paris (Hobson, Foster and Kieran Smith). Marchand owns a best time of 1:46.44 in the 200, but he never raced the event in his Olympic campaign, his busy schedule ruling out an 800 free relay appearance. As for the 400, his entry time is actually from short course yards, but his time of 4:02.31 in the 500 free from the 2024 NCAA Championships is the fastest time in history by two seconds. Marchand depended heavily on his underwaters in that collegiate swim, but that does not mean he will totally fall apart in long course.
The Pro Series meet takes places less than three months out from the World Championships, so it should provide a strong indication of his capabilities for this year, including whether any world records or achievements in freestyle are within his range. Similar story for Dressel, whose swimming will demonstrate the extent to which he can boost an American men’s team with significant questions and holes entering the summer.
But the here-and-now should not distract from how secure the legacies of these two swimmers already are. After Spitz, the thought of a male swimmer winning three or more golds at one Olympics was dormant for more than three decades until Phelps came along. More men will surely join those ranks in the future, particularly with the new including of strokes 50s at the Games, but Dressel and Marchand did it without the additional races. Matt Biondi, Pieter van den Hoogenband, Ian Thorpe and Ryan Lochte all won three or more individual medals at an Olympics but never all gold.
This weekend and for the foreseeable future, swimming fans should appreciate the competitive bona fides encouraging Dressel and Marchand to push forward and seek further greatness, their spots in swimming lore already guaranteed.
Can they add a 50 of 5th stroke (underwater) while they are adding 50s. Tell me that wouldn’t be a fun race!
I get paid over $130 1 to 3 hours working from home with 2 kids at home. I never thought I’d be able to do it but my best friend earns over $27k a month doing this and she convinced me to try. The potential with this is endless.
Heress———–> rb.gy/tzkwnx