"Definitely grabbed my attention" - When Caeleb Dressel reacted to David Popovici's 47.30 in 100m free

Caeleb Dressel is one of the best swimmers in the current Team USA. He has won seven gold medals by competing in just two editions of the Olympic games. Apart from the Olympics, he has won several medals in the championships.

On the other hand, David Popovici is one of the young and upcoming swimming stars. Despite being a young swimmer, he already has several laurels to his name in such a short period, including world records and medals in competitions. He was named the Men's World Swimmer of the Year 2022.

One competitor appreciating his rival's performance is the beauty of sports. And one such incident is when Caeleb Dressel appreciated David Popovici when he clocked a time of 47.30 in the 100-meter freestyle event. Speaking at a press conference in 2021 before the Tokyo Olympics, Dressel said,

"So yeah, I mean, it definitely grabbed my attention. I certainly was not going that fast at 16 so that’s extremely impressive and how he’s swimming it, I think it’s even more impressive. You know, when I was 100 free as a 16-year-old it was just how fast I can go out. But the kid’s coming home. I think he was 24.3 coming home something like that, which is crazy. So yeah, it’s a very legit time."

Caeleb claimed his roommate Blake brought up the conversation about David Popovici completing the 100-meter freestyle event with a time of 47.30 in the morning.

David Popovici clocked that time during the 2021 European Junior Swimming Championships in Rome. He broke the junior world record twice in the 100-meter freestyle event at the 2021 European Junior Swimming Championships.

At the Tokyo Olympics, when Dressel and David Popovici faced off against each other in the finals of the 100-meter freestyle event, Dressel reigned supreme as he won the gold medal, and the Romanian swimmer finished in seventh place.

---

How many medals did Caeleb Dressel win in 2021?

Of his seven Olympic gold medals, Caeleb Dressel won five at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. The Tokyo Olympics, which were supposed to be held in 2020, was shifted to 2021 due to the global covid pandemic.

Caeleb's first gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics came in the 4x100-meter freestyle relay event. He and his teammates helped Team USA clinch the gold medal. The American swimmer's first individual gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics came in the 100-meter freestyle event when he completed the event with a time of 47.02.

Dressel once again won the gold medal in the 100-meter butterfly event on day eight of the Tokyo Olympics. He emerged victorious in the 100-meter butterfly event with a world record time of 49.45. Caeleb Dressel won two gold medals on the final day of the Olympics.

He clinched the gold medal in the 50-meter freestyle event with an Olympic record time of 21.07. On the same day, Caeleb Dressel swam in the finals of the 4x100-meter medley relay. He and his teammates Ryan Murphy, Michael Andrew, and Zach Apple clocked a world record time of 3:26.78 in the finals.

This helped Team USA win the gold medal in the 4x100-meter medley relay. Caeleb Dressel won a total of five medals in 2021.