"We are a little too close to Meghan's due date" - Caeleb Dressel withdraws from Pro Swim Series 2024

Caeleb Dressel, a seven-time Olympic champion and one of America's most successful swimmers, was supposed to kick off his 2024 season with an appearance at the Pro Swim Series. However, the swimmer has announced that he will be sitting out this competition, and will not be in action at Knoxville, Tennessee.

For Dressel, this competition was a part of his comeback. After winning two golds at the 2022 Budapest World Championships, the American had taken a year-long hiatus. He returned to the pool in 2023 at the U.S. Swimming Championships in July in a bid to make it to the Fukuoka World Championships.

However, the 27-year-old failed to qualify in any event, finishing third in his specialty, the 50m freestyle, with a time of 22.72 seconds. Six months later, Caeleb Dressel managed to top the charts at the US Open, winning the men's 100m butterfly.

Fans were excited to see Dressel in action at the Allan Jones Aquatic Center in the 50m, 100m, and 200m freestyle, alongside the 100m butterfly. But the swimmer has withdrawn from the competition.

The American and his wife Meghan Dressel are expecting their first child, and with the latter being very close to her delivery date, the swimmer revealed that he won't be able to participate. He wrote on his Instagram story,

“I will not be at the Knoxville Pro Swim this weekend. We are a little too close to Meghan's due date. Wish I could be there.”

Via Caeleb Dressel's Instagram story

Caeleb Dressel and Meghan Dressel’s relationship timeline

Caeleb Dressel and Meghan Dressel's relationship timeline

Caeleb Dressel and Meghan Dressel are high-school sweethearts, having known each other since their days at the Bolles School Sharks swimming club in Jacksonville, Florida. Meghan herself is a swimmer, having competed at the collegiate level alongside Dressel’s elder sister Kaitlyn at one point in 2015.

However, while Dressel went on to pursue swimming as a career, Meghan opted to focus on her dream of becoming a therapist. She earned three degrees in total - a Bachelor of Science in Family and Child Sciences and Psychology, a Masters degree in Education, and a Masters Degree in Marriage and Family Therapy/Counseling.

The couple got engaged in November 2019 and got married on Valentine's Day in 2021. In July 2023, the two announced that they were expecting a new addition to their family, a baby boy, in February of this year.