Caeleb Dressel fails to qualify for worlds in 50-meter butterfly, finishing 3rd at the US nationals

By PAUL NEWBERRY
AP National Writer

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Caeleb Dressel made it to the 50-meter butterfly final but again failed to qualify for the world championships, finishing third at the U.S. nationals. Dressel touched the wall in 23.35 seconds in the non-Olympic event, which he won at the last two worlds in 2019 and 2022. That left him behind winner Michael Andrew in 23.11 and runner-up Dare Rose at 23.20. Still, it was an encouraging performance by Dressel, who is swimming in his first major meet since taking a lengthy break. He was 29th in the preliminaries of his first event, the 100 freestyle.