Schooling beaten by Dressel in 100-yard fly NCAA clash, finished 4th

SINGAPORE – There were no poolside celebrations for Olympic champion Joseph Schooling at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Swimming Championships in Minnesota on Saturday morning (March 24), as the Singaporean was beaten to the 100-yard butterfly gold by arch rival Caeleb Dressel.

Out to avenge his defeat by Dressel at last year’s NCAAs, Schooling was beaten yet again in the race against his former Bolles School teammate, as he finished fourth in 44.68sec.

Defending champion Dressel was unstoppable in the final as the University of Florida senior stormed home in a new American and NCAA record time of 42.80sec to claim his third gold at the NCAAs. Jan Switkowski of Florida and Indiana University’s Lanza Vini won silver and bronze respectively in 44.49sec and 44.50sec.

Competing in his final NCAAs, Schooling has endured a disappointing campaign in Minnesota so far after failing to medal in five events. He finished joint-15th in his first individual event, the 50-yard freestyle, on Friday morning, and his barren run continued a day later after his fourth-placed finish in the 100-yard fly, and fifth in the 200-yard medley relay with the University of Texas.

After his gold medal feat at the 2016 Rio Olympics, Schooling admitted that he had struggled with motivation and taken the foot off the pedal. At last year’s Budapest World Championships, he was beaten to the 100m fly gold by rising young star Dressel, who went on to claim seven gold medals at the meet. 

Schooling had vowed to come back strong in his last NCAA outing before turning professional at the end of the year, but the 22-year-old has yet to deliver on his promise. 

In contrast, Dressel has been in sizzling form since stepping into the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Centre in Minneapolis on Thursday night. The 21-year-old bettered his NCAA and American record in the 50-yard freestyle twice enroute to claiming his first individual gold of the meet, before adding two more titles in the 200-yard freestyle relay and 100-yard fly.

Schooling will be back in the pool on Saturday night, where he will compete in the preliminaries of the 200-yard fly alongside Singapore teammate Quah Zheng Wen, before linking up with his Texas colleagues for the 400-yard freestyle relay.