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DRESSEL ADDS EXTRA STARDUST TO ISL ON MAGICAL MVP DEBUT
International Swimming League ·
ISL PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Over 100 Olympians are represented by the ISL, including 41 Olympic gold medals from the 2016 Olympic Games.
Making his International Swimming League (ISL) debut this past weekend, Caeleb Dressel of the Cali Condors sprinkled some extra stardust on an already out-of-this-world league, earning match MVP honors in Naples, Italy.
The 23-year-old swimming star had a near-perfect debut to his ISL career, winning 3 of the 4 individual events he entered: the 50 free, 100 free, and 50 fly. The only blemish on his Naples performance came in the 100 fly, which Chad le Clos won for the second-straight match by just .01 seconds ahead of Dressel: the smallest measured amount in swimming.
Dressel picked up big bonus points as the winner of the elimination-style skins race where his competitors faded in the 2nd and 3rd rounds of 50 freestyles, all jammed into a jaw-dropping 10-minute window. Dressel kept his speed almost equal throughout and cruised to a win in the final round, using his world’s-best start to win by 3 meters.
Dressel was also a part of a 3rd-place Cali Condors 4x100 medley relay, a 2nd-place Condors men’s 4x100 free relay, and a 2nd-place Cali Condors mixed-gender 4x100 free relay.
In spite of his prodigious individual effort, post-meet, Dressel was focused fully on his club, the Cali Condors, who finished 2nd in the meet, 2.5 points behind Energy Standard.
“I mean, I'd much rather have a team title than MVP, 100 percent of the time,” Dressel said after the meet. “It definitely stings, but it's cool, there's already started to be rivalries developing. Of course, friendly rivalries. I respect everyone on that team, but I would've liked to win the meet. And it was so close which is what makes it hurt a little bit more.”
For his efforts as the meet MVP, Dressel will receive a $5,000 bonus, as will the MVP – male or female – at each of the regular-season matches in 2019.
2019 ISL Meet MVPs:
- Indianapolis - Sarah Sjostrom, Energy Standard Club
- Naples - Caeleb Dressel, Cali Condors
