Michael Phelps vs. Caeleb Dressel: Who is the faster swimmer?

Michael Phelps is often considered the greatest-ever swimmer. He has won a record 23 gold medals, three silver medals, and two bronze medals in the Olympic games. Phelps also won a lot more medals at the World Championships and Pan Pacific Championships. 'Flying Fish' retired from competitive swimming post the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Caeleb Dressel, on the other hand, has also been one of the best swimmers of the last decade. The Florida-born swimmer has won seven gold medals in just two editions of the Olympics he participated in. He has also clinched several medals at the World Championships and Pan Pacific Championships. Dressel is just 26 years old and we may see him win a lot more medals in the upcoming years.

But there is always doubt among the fans as to who might be the fastest between the two.

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Michael Phelps vs. Caeleb Dressel: Two of the fastest human beings to ever move through water

Michael Phelps specializes mostly in butterfly events and individual medley events, but that doesn't mean he didn't compete in other events. In fact, Phelps won a gold medal in the individual freestyle event. Meanwhile, Dressel concentrates more on freestyle events.

Freestyle is the fastest stroke in swimming. To compare the speed of these two great swimmers, we might have to compare their time taken to complete 50-meter freestyles and 100-meter freestyles. In the 50-meter freestyle (short course), Phelps completed the event with a time of 23.04 at the 2009 FINA Swimming World Cup held in Sweden.

Michael Phelps and Caeleb Dressel during the 2016 Rio Olympics

Meanwhile, Dressel set a world record in the finals of the 50-meter freestyle (short course) event at the International Swimming League in 2020 when he won the event with a time of 20.16. In the 50-meter freestyle (short course) event, the stats suggest that Dressel has bested Phelps.

Moving on to the 100-meter freestyle (long course). Phelps competed in the men's 4x100 meter freestyle relay and completed his 100 meters with a time of 47.51 during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Dressel competed in the 100-meter freestyle (long course) event during the 2019 FINA World Championships and went on to win the event with a time of 46.96.

Phelps has won several races via comeback, which suggests he has a great ability to accelerate between splits. But when his speed is compared to Dressel's, the Florida-born swimmer has the edge. So, we can conclude that Caeleb Dressel is faster than Michael Phelps.

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Michael Phelps and Caeleb Dressel medal count at the Olympics

Michael Phelps has competed in five editions of the Olympics but has won medals in only four of them. Phelps has clinched 23 golds, three silvers, and two bronze medals in total.

The 'Baltimore Bullet' finished his first Olympics in 2000 without a single medal. In his second Olympic Games in 2004, Phelps went on to win six gold medals and two bronze medals. At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, he won eight gold medals. By winning eight gold medals, he broke the record for the most gold medals won at a single Olympics.

At the 2012 London Olympics, he won four gold medals and two silver medals, followed by five gold medals and one silver medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Caeleb Dressel, on the other hand, has won seven gold medals in the two editions of the Olympic Games he competed in. The ace swimmer clinched two gold medals in his debut Olympic Games during the 2016 Rio Olympics. At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Dressel won five gold medals.