Gwangju (South Korea): American superstar Caeleb Dressel produced more fireworks Saturday as he romped to a hat-trick of gold medals, taking his tally to six on a dark day when a fatal nightclub accident shook swimming’s world championships.
Dressel, swimming’s squeaky-clean, tattooed glamour boy, helped refocus attention on the pool as he retained his 50 metres freestyle and 100m butterfly world titles in style, before leading the American mixed 4x100m freestyle team to a new world record.
Bouncing on his toes like a prizefighter before the 50m free, Dressel exploded from the blocks and never looked back, clocking a championship best 21.04 seconds, comfortably clear of Brazilian Bruno Fratus and Greek Kristian Gkolomeev, who tied for silver in 21.45.
The 22-year-old was back for the 100m butterfly final and after a long, hard stare down lane four, he got it done again. The American touched in 49.66 – the second-quickest. His heroics came after the shock news that two locals died and eight athletes were injured after an indoor balcony at a Gwangju nightclub collapsed in the early hours Saturday, sending party-goers plummeting over five metres onto people below.
Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom limbered up for a world sprint double with the fastest 50 metres freestyle heat.
Sjostrom clocked 24.26 seconds to top the women’s 50m free prelims ahead of Australia’s Cate Campbell (24.40) and American Simone Manuel (24.41) as the trio resumed battle after 100m final. She can become the first woman to win three world championship gold medals in the 50m butterfly on Sunday.
