“My siblings had my back” – When Caeleb Dressel recalled the time when his siblings stood up to his bullies

US swimmer Caeleb Dressel may be a superstar right now, but, growing up, it was not all roses and rainbows for him.

Dressel grew up in Green Cove Springs, Florida. He was the third of four children with a brother and two sisters. Growing up, they were the ones who took a stand for a young Caeleb facing bullies.

In a sit-down interview with Graham Bensinger for 'In-depth with Graham Bensinger,' Caeleb Dressel was asked about a particular bullying incident in high school.

He answered:

"Like a lot of kids out there, I was so unsure about a lot of things, self-conscious about a lot of stuff. I wore glasses during that time - wasn't super proud of the fact that I swam. Like it was not the coolest sport."

Bensinger asked whether Dressel's feelings were also due to the Speedos that swimmers have to wear. He responded:

"Exactly, I didn't want tell anyone like, that's the last thing I want to admit to. And now it's like, 'check me out'. But yeah, it was a brutal time."

Dressel further added that having glasses and his skinny physique adversely affected his self-consciousness.

"I was just super self-conscious about wearing a speedo. I had glasses. I was like skinny - a lot of things I was self-conscious about."

Dressel delved deeper into his experience of being bullied.

"Just little things here, there. Maybe a slap here, there. Just not the nicest words. It was just a bully. Like the most classic example of a bully."

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My siblings had my back: Caeleb Dressel

Caeleb Dressel (Credits: Tom Pennington / Getty Images)

Caeleb Dressel revealed how self-conscious he was about swimming and himself. But through all the bullying he faced, his siblings had his back.

"I will tell you what, though, my siblings had my back. They got in trouble, I want to say."

What exactly did Dressel's siblings do to protect him that got them in trouble? Dressel added that they confronted his bully and told him to back off.

"I see Kaitlyn and Tyler got suspended because they basically went up to him and basically said like, I am framing it very nicely. They basically said like, 'Stop picking on my brother or there will be further consequences,' which was awesome like for them to have my back like that."

Dressel spoke with a chuckle, remembering how his siblings stood up for him, even getting suspended for warning the bully. Bensinger asked what they were suspended for.

Dressel said:

"We don't go to that school anymore. Probably because like examples of stuff like that. But maybe teachers wanted them to bring it to a teacher instead of them handling it themselves."

Caeleb Dressel further explained that it was actually his father who asked his siblings to "handle" it for him.

"But my dad actually told him. He's like, 'No, you need to handle this for Caeleb.' That was, I think, a very cool core memory that I have from growing up: my siblings have my back."

Caeleb Dressel has come a long way from being a self-conscious high school swimmer to a seven-time Olympic swimming champion.