Caeleb Dressel was compared to Michael Phelps before he ever reached Tokyo. Each Olympic medal strengthens the association.After touching the wall, Dressel nearly lost his speech when he saw No. Dressel was almost speechless after touching the wall, and then he looked up to see No. 1 on the big screen. This was the first time he had done so for an individual Olympic race.The American 24-year-old set an Olympic record in 100-meter freestyle (47.02), surpassing 2016 Olympic champion Kyle Chalmers by six-hundredths.Dressel's eyes swelled with tears when his Florida family appeared on the screen for his interview at his poolside. His family repeatedly repeated, "We are so proud of you," over and over. Dressel, his hand still on his lips, took the words in, quietly crying.Phelps was a consummate professional who spoiled Americans every time he went into the pool. He made America the number one medalist in the Olympic pool, 17 years after his debut with six Olympic golds medals (4 individual, 2 team) at the Athens Games 2004.Phelps doesn't compete anymore but his absence is still felt. Experts and fans alike expressed surprise that Phelps wasn't racing in the pool, but they were still in the booth.Dressel is the only one who could come even close to Phelps' follow-up. Dressel was the standout in an otherwise disappointing performance of the Americans in pool (Katie Ledecky failed to win gold in 400-meter freestyle, Ryan Murphy failed in 100-meter backstroke and the United States men did not make it to the podium in the 800-meter relay).He is currently 2-for-2 when it comes to walking away with gold in a final. He led Team USA's 4x100 meter freestyle relay.The U.S. was unable to win Tuesday's 4x200 meter freestyle relay, and this is the first time in Olympic history that the U.S. has not won any relay medal.Headlines included, "U.S. men fail medal without Dressel." In an interview with NBC, Phelps was shocked to learn that Dressel wasn't part of the team.Phelps stated that he believed Phelps to be the "best 200 freestyler" in the world. It's much harder to win if he isn't in that relay.Tokyo is Dressel's breakthrough. If 2016 Olympics was Dressel’s introduction to the rest of the world, Tokyo will be it. He will be competing in the 100-meter butterfly on Friday. The 50-meter freestyle sprint will follow. He is expected to win both of these events.Dressel could have a perfect Olympics, with gold in every race he takes part in. Similar to Phelps at Athens during his first Olympics.This could be the beginning of a new era, one that sees Phelps chased and perhaps even on par with the greatest swimming of all time.
