- Caeleb Dressel is an American professional swimmer who broke Michael Phelps’ 10-year old world record in the 100m butterfly in 2019 and has earned $5 million from his career and endorsement deals
- He has 7 Olympic gold medals, winning 2 from Rio 2016 and 5 from Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics
- The Florida native was raised in a family of swimming enthusiasts, his father and siblings competed at various swimming events from high school to the university level
Caeleb Dressel dubbed as the next Michael Phelps was born and raised in a family of swimmers and at 28, he is one of the best not just in the US but also in the world. He fell in love with swimming at a tender age and has gone on to win several medals including gold and silver medals at various national, regional, and international swimming events.
He is a 7-time Olympic gold medalist and won many gold medals at the 2017 World Aquatics Championships, the 2018 World Swimming Championships, and the 2019 World Aquatics Championships. In addition, he holds the world records in the 100m butterfly (long course and short course), 50m freestyle (short course and 100m individual medley (short course).
As of 2022, Dressel’s net worth is around $5 million, earned from his career and lucrative endorsement deals with several brands.
Early Background Of Caeleb Dressel
He was born to Michael Dressel and Christina Dressel on 16th August 1996 in Green Cove Springs, Flordia. Dressel is not the child of his parents, he has three siblings, Sherridon, Tyler, and Kaitlyn.
Interestingly, the swimmer must have inherited the gene from his family. His father and his three siblings were competitive swimmers from high school to the university level. He knew about swimming as tender as 4 and started competing when he was 8.
As regards education, he attended Clay High School, Green Cove Springs, Florida, and at the same time trained with the Bolles School Sharks in Jacksonville, Florida. Similarly, he was at the University of Florida from 2014 to 2018, where he became a collegiate swimmer. While there, he won titles which include, the 2015 NCAA title in the 50-yard freestyle, 50m, and 100m freestyles at the senior National Championships.
After his impressive performance of breaking two records; American and US Open records in the 50 and 100-yard freestyles at the 2016 Men’s NCAA Division 1 Championship, he got the opportunity to compete at the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics.
Also See-Mark Spitz’s Net Worth In 2022 – How He Became One Of The Richest Athletes
Dressel’s Swimming Career Took Storm After His Exploits At The Rio 2016 Summer Olympics
The 2016 Olympics took place in Rio in August 2016, the same month the Florida native was going to clock 20. For a first-timer, what he achieved in Rio was unexpected but not impossible considering what he had already achieved before going to Brazil.
Dressel won two gold medals at the 2016 Olympics. He got his first gold at the event in the 4x100m freestyle relay where he partnered with Michael Phelps, Nathan Adrian, and Ryan Held to finish in 3:09:92. Afterward, he won his second in the 4x100m medley relay.
A year after Rio, he continued with his incredible performance at the 2017 NCAA Division 1 Championship, breaking the 100-yeard freestyle record in both the American and US Open. That same year, he went as far as winning 7 gold medals at the World Aquatic Championships. A feat like this was only achieved by Michael Phelps, hence, Dressel became the second swimmer to do so.
More so, 2018, 2019, and 2020 brought more success for him. In 2018, he continued to cancel records after breaking the American and US Open records thrice at the NCCA Division 1 Men’s Swimming and Diving Championship in the 50-yard freestyle and the 100-yard butterfly.
In 2019, the 28 year-old picked 8 medals, 6 golds, and 2 silvers at the World Aquatics Championships in Gwangju, South Korea. It was here that he broke a 10-year-old 100m butterfly world record previously held by his compatriot, Michael Phelps.
Similarly, Caeleb Dressel became a member of the International Swimming League which was established in 2019. He represented the Cali Condors, a swimming club based in San Francisco. The club finished in 3rd place in the inaugural season of the league, but he broke Florent Manaudou’s world record of 20.26 and set a new one by going 20.24 in the 50m freestyle.
In 2020, he broke more and set new records. They include the 100m butterfly (47.78 seconds), the 50m freestyle (20.16 seconds), 100m butterfly (less than 48 seconds).
The following year was even better as he won 5 gold medals at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics which took place in 2021 as a result of COVID-19 restrictions. This brings the total number of his Olympic gold medals to 7.
How Did He Make The $5 Million?
The 7-time Olympic gold medalist has been amazing a pretty decent amount of money from his swimming career as well endorsement deals with a couple of brands.
By winning 5 gold medals at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Dressel earned $37,500 for each, and going by this, the Florida native made $187,500. If this is applicable to the 2 gold medals he won at the Rio 2016 Olympics, then it means he earned $75,000. Therefore, the 7 gold medals gave him $262,500.
In addition, the swimmer also gets paid for being a member of Cali Condors of the International Swimming League (ISL). According to unconfirmed reports, he pocketed almost $300,000 from the ISL through his MVP bonuses and other incentives payable to swimmers in the league.
In 2021, Forbes projected that he would make more from his swimming career as he eyes the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics. This projection was made looking at how much gymnast, Simone Biles, and swimmer, Katie Ledecky made from winning medals on the Olympic stage.
In fact, the projection went as far as saying, he could see his yearly earnings from endorsement peaking above $1 million. This is no mistake considering the sponsorship deals he signed with a number of brands such as Speedo, NOBULL, TOYOTA, COMCAST, and SPIRE INSTITUTE. Others include OMEGA, GOOGLE, beat by dr. dre, MAD RABBIT, NordicTrack, Coca-Cola, BODIES IN BALANCE ACUPUNCTURE, Reese’s, and GRUBHUB.
So all these put together contribute significantly to Caeleb Dressel net worth of $5 million. This would likely go up as the years roll by.
5 Quick Facts About Caeleb Dressel
- Dressel is the 5th American to win 5 gold medals in a single Olympic event alongside Mark Spitz, Michael Phelps, Matt Biondi, and Eric Heiden as well as the first in the history of swimming at the modern Olympics to win gold in 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle and 100m bitterly in a single Olympics since 1896.
- He first met his wife Meghan Haila at the Bolles School where he trained in Jacksonville, Florida, they got engaged in 2019 and exchanged marital vows in 2021.
- The Florida-born swimmer was the youngest swimmer to compete in the 2012 US Olympic Trials at the age of 15 but didn’t qualify because of his rankings at the trials
- As of 2022, he is the captain of the men’s swimming team for the Cali Condors of the International Swimming League which kick-started in 2019.
- He has a large eagle tattoo which was inspired by the Bible verse Isaiah 40:31, the verse is his favorite.
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