Caeleb Dressel looked like the next American mega-star in swimming by turning in world record-setting performances at the International Swimming League final in Budapest, Hungary. Dressel broke world records in the 50-meter freestyle and the 100-meter butterfly.
In the freestyle race, Dressel bested his own previous world record of 20.24 with a new time of 20.16, and he became the first person to finish the 100-meter butterfly race in under 48 seconds, with a time of 47.78. That blazing time was more than a quarter of a second better than Chad LeClos' previous record of 48.08.
⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️ World record broken by the legend @caelebdressel (47.78) during 100M butterfly #ISwimLeagueS02 #Budapest2020 #ISLsuperheroes pic.twitter.com/kB0jx95uiw
— International Swimming League (@iswimleague) November 21, 2020
"It was a really exciting day and I'm so pleased with the times," Dressel said in an interview with BBC Sport. "It's like an amusement park for swimmers and I'm loving it at the ISL this season, but we want to win this as a team -- that's the end goal."
The former Florida Gators star and 10-time NCAA champion holds three world records after he broke the 100-meter individual medley record earlier this month at the ISL semifinals.
NEW WORLD RECORD!
— CBS Sports Network (@CBSSportsNet) November 16, 2020
Caeleb Dressel swims the 100M individual medley in an astonishing 49.88 seconds! pic.twitter.com/fyhEfXJJ5u
The International Swimming League is a global, 10-team swimming league that holds men's and women's competitions over five regular season events and a semifinal and final. While global stars such as Dressel and Olympians are in the competition, gold medalists Katie Ledecky and Cody Miller opted out of the 2020 ISL season.
The 24-year-old Dressel has his sights set on the Tokyo Summer Games next year, and after winning seven gold medals at the 2017 World Championships, could have his sights on Michael Phelps' record of eight golds at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
