He won in 49.45 seconds, breaking his own world record of 49.50 set in 2019. Kristof Milac of Hungary took silver, .23 of a second behind Dressel. Switzerland’s Noe Ponti won the bronze in 50.74. Just 45 minutes after the butterfly, Dressel was to be back in the pool for the men’s 50 free semifinals.
He was expected to warm down in the diving well, not the training pool, to save time between events. Then, he was expected to swim one of the four legs in the U.S. mixed medley relay, also likely to earn a medal. The 24-year-old Dressel came into these Games as one of the stars of the U.S. swimming team, and Saturday was expected to add the exclamation point to his week. He won the 100 freestyle and anchored the victorious U.S. men’s 4×100-meter freestyle relay earlier in the week.
