How Old Is Caeleb Dressel, and What Is His Height and Weight Compared With Average Olympic Swimmers

Caeleb Dressel’s journey to Paris has been filled with its share of hiccups. The American has risen against countless odds and emerged victorious. He has proven time and time again why he is among the best in the business. His seven gold medals in the Olympics aid his case too. Out of these seven, he won five of them in Tokyo, becoming only the fifth American swimmer to win five medals in a single edition.

He holds numerous American records, including the 50 and 100-meter freestyle and the 50 and 100-meter butterfly. But, after his immensely successful outing in Japan, Dressel became obsessed with perfection, which took a toll on his mental health. During a podcast, he disclosed that if he didn’t meet his desired time, that would result in him thinking that he didn’t train enough. He wanted a world record every time he dived into the pool. This made the sport he loved participating in not so enjoyable anymore.

He finally reached a point where he gave in during the 2022 World Championship, when he had to abruptly withdraw. Since then, Dressel has lived in Gainesville, Florida with his family and has sought therapy. He has described his mental health as a work in progress. Despite this, he is all set to participate for the third time in the Olympics and add to his medals tally. Physical stature wise though, how much of a phenom is he compared to the others? While he is an outlier, let’s delve into his vital stats that give him an edge in the pool.

Caeleb Dressel’s age and height advantage

The average age of Olympic male swimmers is between 23-26. Caeleb Dressel is just a year older than that at 27. In all likelihood, this will not affect his performances whatsoever as he’s just getting started. The all-time great Micheal Phelps, who Dressel has often been compared to proved this.

When Phelps was just a year younger than what Dressel is now, he won four gold medals and two silver medals in the 2012 London Olympics. But he would not stop there as he went on to perform in the 2016 Rio edition at the age of 31, winning five gold and one silver medal. Thus, if Dressel comes into the games with the right mindset, age is not going to be a factor.

Coming to his height, Caeleb Dressel is 6 feet 3 inches tall. The average height of the Olympics male swimmer is 6 ft 1 inch. This makes Dressel slightly above the median height. This has benefited him in his whole career, as taller swimmers have an advantage over their shorter counterparts as their wing span is larger, making them take fewer strokes and larger strides in the water. Longer legs also help them get further quicker. Therefore, this could make Dressel’s hunt for a medal a tad bit easier.

Caeleb Dressel’s winning probability increases because of weight

Caeleb Dressel’s weight is also higher than the average as he is about 91 kgs. This is quite significantly above the mean which falls between 80-85 kgs approximately. Contrary to popular belief, this could also lead to more success.

According to research done by a researcher at Western University, higher weight is directly co-related to higher amount of gold medals. Thus, this could turn out to be a recipe of success for Dressel. Micheal Phelps used to weigh 88 kgs when he was competing. Ryan Lochte also weighs around 88 kgs. Thus, most of the successful swimmers possessed the right height to weight ratio. What’s next for Dressel though?

Caeleb Dressel’s return to competition

Dressel individually will compete in the 50 meter freestyle and the 100-meter butterfly. He lost out in the bid of reclaiming his gold medal in the 100 meter freestyle as he finished 3rd in the Olympic trials. However, Dressel has now vanquished his demons and is one to look out for this mega games season.

He has said that he’s proud to be part of the team going to Paris as his infant son, August, will witness his father for the first time in the games. While the swimmer is himself not sure whether he will break another record ever again, he seems to enjoy the sport he’s given his heart and soul to. At the end of the day, that’s all that matters. Irrespective of the outcome in Paris, he has cemented his legacy as one of the all-time greats.