Dressel powers Cali Condors to lead at swim league meet

WASHINGTON: American star Caeleb Dressel won two events and helped set up a relay victory on Saturday for the Cali Condors as they seized the team lead in the latest International Swim League meet.

Dressel won six gold medals and a record eight in all at this year’s World Aquatics Championships after taking seven golds at the 2017 worlds and featuring in two US relay wins at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

The 23-year-old’s latest star turn came at the University of Maryland pool in suburban College Park in the ISL competition. The Cali Condors edged ahead of the Los Angeles Current 234.5-234 after the first 19 of 37 events in the two-day meet.

Dressel won the men’s 50m freestyle in 20.81 seconds, with New York runner-up Michael Andrew .24sec back, and captured the men’s 100 butterfly in 49.16, .54sec ahead of LA’s Tom Shields.

Dressel, Poland’s Kacper Majshrzak, Bowe Becker and Justin Ress won the men’s 4x100m freestyle relay in 3:08.52, defeating LA by 1.13sec. Cali’s Lilly King, the reigning world and Olympic 100 breaststroke champion, won the 50 breast in 29.00 and the 200 breast in 2:17.78.

Dressel is the reigning world champion in the 50 and 100 freestyle and 50 and 100 butterfly. He won 2017 world crowns in the 50 and 100 free and 100 butterfly. The ISL series finale will be contested next month in Las Vegas.