Caeleb Dressel and Katie Ledecky square-off as American swim superstars take part in exhibition race
American swimming superstars Caeleb Dressel and Katie Ledecky faced off in a 200m exhibition race with Dressel acing it.
In an exhibition heat of the 200m mixed free event, Dressel and Ledecky - members of the Florida pro group - squared off with Dressel finishing first, clocking 1:34.98s. The time was just over one second outside of his career best of 1:33.75s set in November 2018.
The American swimmer opened with a time of 47.51s before closing the race with a time of 47.47s.
Meanwhile, Katie Ledecky beat Natalie Hinds to finish as the top female in the heat with a time of 1:46.37s. Ledecky was overall fourth in terms of her time while Hinds, who clocked 1:46.65s, finished fifth.
Mark Szaranek finished second behind Caeleb Dressel in 1:36.82s while Brennan Gravley came third clocking 1:40.78s.
Caeleb Dressel eyes LA Olympics and coaching
Caeleb Dressel is back in the pool. The American swimming sensation left the 2022 World Aquatics Championships midway, citing mental health issues, and returned to competitive swimming at the 2023 Atlanta Classic.
Dressel is the winner of seven Olympic gold medals and also holds the world records in the 100-meter butterfly (both long and short course), 50-meter freestyle (short course), and 100-meter individual medley (short course).
He almost took off from where he left off and finished runner-up in the 100m butterfly event at the 2023 Atlanta Classic, clocking 52.41s.
In an earlier interview with SwimSwam, Caeleb Dressel divulged his plans about setting his sights on the Los Angeles Olympics, scheduled for 2028.
"I want to be part of the 2028 Olympics. The idea of having a chance to race in front of my crowd at the Los Angeles Olympics and looking at them cheering for us is very meaningful to me. Swim meets are always held in Europe or in Asia. Having an Olympic in US is truly exceptional," he said.
Caeleb Dressel also had his post-retirement plans in place and said he was interested in coaching young swimmers.
"I want to be a coach after retirement. If my racing process doesn’t work out, I will immediately start sending my resume for to grab a job in coaching," he added.
Katie Ledecky setting the pool on fire
Katie Ledecky has also been in good form in the pool. The 26-year-old swimmer has won seven Olympic gold medals and 21 world championship gold medals - the most in history for a female swimmer. She was in red-hot form at the 2023 World Aquatics Championship.
The American won four medals and went past Michael Phelps' record of winning the most individual gold medals at an event.
She won two gold medals - in the women's 800m freestyle and the women's 1500m freestyle. She added two silver medals to her kitty when she finished second in the women's 400m freestyle and women's 4x200m freestyle events.
In all, she has won 16 individual gold medals at the championships, overtaking Michael Phelps for the most individual gold medals won at the event.
In the process, Ledecky also became the first athlete to win five world titles each in two different categories at the event - 800m freestyle and 1500m freestyle events.