Caeleb Dressel: Getting comfortable with his inner critic – and fatherhood
It was at the World Championships in June of 2022 – nearly two years ago to the day – that Dressel withdrew mid-event, first citing health reasons and later clarifying he needed to step away from the sport for some time for his mental health.
The Olympic champion at Tokyo 2020 in 2021 in the men’s 50m and 100m freestyle as well as the 100m butterfly, Dressel didn’t get in a pool for some nine months before making his way back in 2023, competing for the first time a year after being out.
Long seen as the American man who would take the swimming baton from the great Michael Phelps, Dressel has re-imagined his relationship to his own inner critic, and says that conversation is much more of an open dialogue these days.
“I think it’s more so [been] befriending that side of me and being more comfortable when the critic does come out,” he said. “I think it’s just building that relationship and seeing him as a partner because he does a really great job of getting me through some tough practices and some tough swim meets and races.
“[It’s about] having a nicer dialogue in my head,” Dressel continued. “But yeah, I respect that side of me, certainly. [But] it certainly helps having more of a balance with the critic mentality.”
Part of that process has been the birth of August. Dressel’s wife, Meghan, has taught the swimmer that “sometimes you just have to ditch the game plan,” he explained.
“We go with Plan B, C or D… or all the way down the alphabet,” Dressel said in their parenting approach with August. “We read books and we were as prepared as we could be, but… I think Megan and I just work together to try our best to figure out what August needs – he can’t talk.”
“I think adapting to him and not just being super set in stone with our plan and, ‘This is what we’re going to do.’ Dressel added of their learnings. “Everyone’s figuring each other out.”