Dressel, Ledecky Lead Bevy Of New Kids On The Blocks On US Olympic Swim Team

Caeleb Dressel and Katie Ledecky head a new-look US swimming team that will travel to Tokyo aiming to maintain dominance in the Olympic competition pool

Omaha, United States, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 21st Jun, 2021 ) :Caeleb Dressel and Katie Ledecky head a new-look US swimming team that will travel to Tokyo aiming to maintain dominance in the Olympic competition pool.

Thirty-five Olympic newcomers punched their tickets to Tokyo in the always-daunting US trials, where only a first- or second-placed finish can secure the coveted Games berths.

Women's team head coach Greg Meehan calls it a "meat-grinder" of a meeting, and the 11 teenagers who came through were almost certainly aided by the extra year of training afforded by the pandemic postponement of the Games.

It is the most teens on the US team since 1996, and almost twice as many as the six that qualified for Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

Dressel capped the trials by equalling his American record in the 50m freestyle. He'll also go for gold in the 100m butterfly and 100m free, all three events in which he is the two-time defending world champion.

Since 23-time Olympic gold medallist Michael Phelps retired after the Rio de Janeiro Games, Dressel has emerged as the face of the US men's team, winning 13 titles over the past two World Championships.

And after a trials that saw Olympic stalwarts Ryan Lochte, Nathan Adrian and Tony Ervin fail to qualify Dressel knows he and his youthful supporting cast have big shoes to fill.

"It doesn't just fall on my shoulders," Dressel said. "I think everyone who is on the team, we're going to have to pick up the pace because what they left behind is huge." Freestyle great Ledecky is targeting a remarkable range of events - the 200m, 400m, 800m and 1500m freestyle.

Rio gold medallists Ryan Murphy and Lilly King are back, and so is Simone Manuel, but only in the 50m free and not in the 100m free she won in Rio.

Some of the newcomers, like 19-year-old Regan Smith, are World Championships veterans.

Others have had a taste of Team USA at the Pan American Games or World University Games and some will be representing the United States for the first time in an environment made even more daunting by coronavirus travel restrictions.

Katie Grimes, the 15-year-old who finished second to Ledecky in the 800m free to earn a trip to Tokyo, was non-plussed when asked if she thought it would be hard not to have her parents there. She hadn't even realized that would likely be the case.

- Phelps influence - Ledecky -- who was 15 when she won the first of her five Olympic gold medals in the 800m free in London -- was quick to reassure the youngster and said it would be up to the veterans like herself and 2012 200m free gold medallist Allison Schmitt to create a "family environment" within the team as they try to match or exceed a Rio performance in which the United States' 33 swimming medals included 16 gold.

Although Phelps is gone, he is certainly not forgotten and the Games great has done what he can to make sure his successors don't flounder in his wake.

Michael Andrew, who made waves turning pro at 14, said Phelps has kept an eye on a career that saw him break a stream of Phelps's national age group records on the way to making his first Olympic team this year at the age of 22.

Andrew was five years old when he met Phelps at a swim clinic when, Andrew recalled, he was afraid to approach his idol.

But Andrew, who will swim the 100m breaststroke, 200m medley and 50m free, said Phelps had kept an eye on him, congratulating him on his successes and offering advice.

"It's cool that he's been intentional with reaching out to me and supporting me and encouraging where I'm at," the 22-year-old said. "It's pretty surreal to know the greatest of all time has been watching my career." Chase Kalisz, a former training partner and longtime friend of Phelps, said the star's influence had helped him turn things around after a slump that started with a shoulder injury prior to the 2019 world championships.

When Kalisz, 27, won the 400m individual medley at trials Phelps was out of the stands like a shot to give his buddy a hug.

"Michael is very supportive of everything I do," Kalisz said. "He will give me a kick in the ass if I need it, and sometimes I certainly need it."