Caeleb Dressel’s popularity among swimming fans does not come only from his accomplishments in the pool. The 27-year-old stands in the fourth position among all the decorated Olympic swimmers in the men’s category with his seven medals. But from time to time, his story of making comebacks while evading complicated mental health has earned accolades and love from the fans.

The fanfare for him was visible at the USA Olympic swimming trials at Lucas Oil Stadium in June. Now, it has shown up again in the training camp for the American swimmers in Croatia. There, he found several of his followers lined up for him to watch him practice and take autographs from him as a souvenir. In reply, the freestyle maestro has etched something extraordinary. 

An Instagram post by USA Swimming showcased Caeleb giving an autograph to a young fan’s forehead. The swimming world went gaga after watching this. Meanwhile, the Instagram handle of LA28 Games tried to capture the emotion in the comment, “Bro won at life”. Definitely, the day will reside in that young fan’s heart as memorable. So the other ones who didn’t have to leave the training camp with a long face for missing a touch of their swimming heroes. 

As USA Swimming’s Instagram handle has shared the snaps of the training day, visuals show fans rallying for their favorite stars. Caeleb Dressel comes as one of those followed stars. But names like Matt King, Phoebe Bacon, Ryan Held, Gretchen, and her elder sister Alex Walsh felt similar warmth from the fans. Now, when the team members received this much attention in the training session, how could the leaders remain behind? 

Subsequently, US swimming team captains Katie Ledecky and Abbey Weitzeil were also among the names who stopped to acknowledge the fans’ support. Overall, the atmosphere of the team looked to be radiant before the Paris Olympics, and undoubtedly, fans’ overwhelming support for them played a catalytic role in this journey. Meanwhile, Caeleb Dressel’s work on the fan’s forehead attracted a lot of praise, being the talk of the day. 

Caeleb Dressel’s ‘signature’ move earns shoutouts from the legends and fans 

The three-time Olympic champion swimmer Ambrose ‘Rowdy’ Gaines is known for his suave commentary on swimming topics. In the last Olympic swimming trials, the former Olympian put every emotion in his words while doing commentary in the live broadcast. So witnessing the emotional rundown in the swimming pool is not new for him. Still, Caeleb Dressel’s act left him emotional. In the comment box, he took the resort of typing this time to vent that emotion out. “That kid is all of us.” Team USA’s Instagram handle tried to add a few more words. 

The autograph on the forehead can be a new thing in the swimming world and stunning, too. So, considering those aspects. Team USA’s IG handle put in the comment box: “autograph on forehead is a new level”.  That made several fans express their wishes in the comment box. One such fan wrote, “I want an autograph on my forehead”. Someone called the act ‘cute’. But in relishing Caeleb Dressel’s autograph, the fans forgot about the young boy from their bunch who let the swimmer pen the autograph on his forehead. He also had to get his share of praise. 

One fan did the right thing by adding, “whoever got the autograph on the forehead is cute” in the comment box. Such a lovely interaction between the fans and their swimming idols should grow in the future for the betterment of the sport. And for American swimming fans, such rich interaction might bring a better result from the Paris Olympics.