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The shine of Caeleb Dressel's seven gold medals may suggest otherwise, but he knows that swimming is usually a brutal and suffocating sport.

He is for sure probably the greatest on this planet at what he does: sprinting from one end of the pool to the opposite (and sometimes back). He holds the world record in the lads's 100-meter butterfly, having first snatched that historic title from Michael Phelps in 2019. Then Dressel beat his world record in that event on the Tokyo Olympics – where he won five gold medals in five events.

Despite every thing, Dressel was unhappy.

He was fixated on the purpose where he had failed. In one race, it was the turnaround. In one other, it was the finish. His head position. It didn't matter that he had repeatedly touched the wall first. It didn't matter that he brought home gold and helped Team USA move to the highest of the medal standings. He was chasing perfection. He was chasing times and impressive goals. He hadn't achieved them.

“I've created a monster inside of me – I'm so caught up in perfectionism,” he told former Olympians Missy Franklin and Katie Hoff on their podcast “Unfiltered Waters.” “I'm so caught up in thinking that if I'm not hitting these times, I'm a bad person or I haven't trained hard enough. If I don't hit a world record, that means… I'm not building enough obsession.”

The sport that had fascinated him as a baby since it was a lot fun was the precise opposite. And it was that way for years. But Dressel kept pushing himself and listening to his inner critic, who was tearing him to pieces.

Until he “collapsed,” as he says today. In the center of the 2022 World Championships in Budapest, he abruptly withdrew and disappeared from the game for eight months.

Dressel hasn't gone into detail about this era of his life in Gainesville, Florida, apart from to say he spent a variety of time along with his therapist. His wife, Meghan, was also there for him, although she also recognized that Dressel needed to have a variety of conversations with himself. Some days he didn't do much. Most days he avoided paths that took him past the University of Florida pool. He didn't wish to smell the chlorine.

He needed to work out who he was after his prime and what made him tick outside of the pool. He needed to re-evaluate what he thought others considered him and why they loved him. He needed to learn to smile again.

The process hasn't been easy, and progress hasn't all the time been straightforward. But that's exactly what makes Dressel, 27, who he’s today as a swimmer and an individual (and a brand new father). And that's why he's back within the pool and on his solution to Paris, considered one of the U.S. team's headliners and arguably crucial piece of the puzzle for the U.S. Swim Team in its efforts to win the competition by bringing home more gold medals than its peers. While there's pressure from the surface, inside, Dressel's biggest critic is quieter.

“It's really tough,” Dressel said last month. “It's ingrained in me — you're always looking for ways to get better. I still do that, but I don't get obsessed and so fixated on it that I lose sight of what's really fun about this sport. It's tough, and it's not like I suddenly figured it out this year. There are things I'm really proud of that I did differently, like being able to enjoy parts of the sport without beating myself up for not being perfect.

“It’s still in full swing.”

Dressel seems like someone who has discovered quite a bit about himself through therapy. One of the primary things he'll inform you is how helpful his regular appointments along with his therapist have been.

“I've tried not to be so fixated on results and just enjoy racing and training — those are the two parts of the sport that I really enjoy,” Dressel said. “There are parts of the sport that I really don't like, that I really hate. But it's worth it to put up with the moments that I really enjoy. It's going to be a balance; I don't expect every part of the sport to just be the best for me. But I've really focused on the parts of the sport that I enjoy.

“That's the fundamental difference for me. I've all the time loved training. I've all the time loved being with the team. I actually, really benefit from the actual competition part – once the starting gun goes off, it's just fun. So I just tried to maintain it easy swimming. Just swimming this yr.”

Dressel will only swim the 50-meter freestyle and 100-meter butterfly as individual events at the Games and will likely take part in several relays. At the US Olympic trials in Indianapolis, he finished third in the final of the 100-meter freestyle, which cost him the chance to defend his gold medal in that event in Paris.

But he is happy to be part of the Olympic team. He is proud of what he accomplished in the qualifying competitions. He is thrilled that his young son August was able to witness it all, sitting in Meghan's arms in the stands.

“Nobody can take that away from him,” Dressel said in Indianapolis. “He's not going to recollect it. I'm going to inform him, trust me, I actually have photos, so I can prove it. … That was a really special moment. Meghan knows what it takes, not only the parenting side of things, but she experiences firsthand the difficulties that include the game.”

“The tears that include it, the frustration after which the high points, and with the ability to share that with them because they're going through it too – it was really special that August was capable of experience that.”

Meghan shared a video of Dressel with baby August at the Olympic training camp in North Carolina this month, another moment captured and saved to commemorate a once-in-a-lifetime moment. They will also be in Paris, alongside Dressel's parents and family. Dressel said he wouldn't be where he is today without their support. And he certainly wouldn't be where he is without Meghan, who he calls their family's “superhero.”

Parenting is wonderful for a lot of reasons, but perhaps crucial lesson it teaches is that of perspective—especially for somebody who has spent most of their life chasing time and striving for perfection that doesn't and might't exist.

“I don't know if I'll ever set a personal best again, and that's hard to say. I really do,” Dressel said. “When you're 19, 20, 21, you keep working, keep working, keep working. I'm still working harder than ever, looking for any way I can to get those few tenths out. But I don't know. I don't know if I can do it. I'm really good at racing. If you put me in a race, I'm going to make it close, as close as possible, even if I have to try to kill myself to get there. I'm going to put myself in those situations.”

So he doesn't know exactly how Paris will go. But he does know that he’s older, wiser and really happier than he was before the last Olympics. Others see that too, and not only when he reaches over the track after a race or punches the water for joy.

“He's always had that smile,” said Katie Ledecky, a seven-time gold medalist and training partner on the University of Florida. “He took that time off and when he came back, he had that smile every day. Just seeing his progress over the last year, how he's gotten better from meet to meet – he just seems to love racing, and he probably loves training more than racing itself, and that makes everyone around him better.”

It may even make probably the greatest swimmers on this planet higher. And that's why this smile is as invaluable as gold, irrespective of what medal Dressel has hanging around his neck.

The athlete

BERKELEY – A Bay Area swim instructor was arrested on suspicion of sexually abusing several young children, police said.

According to a Berkeley Police Department press release, detectives launched an investigation last week after parents raised concerns about 25-year-old Tyler Livingston's interactions with their children.

On Thursday, detectives executed search and arrest warrants at an address related to Livingston, who was eventually taken into custody in Emeryville without further incident.

Livingston has worked as a swimming instructor within the Bay Area for the past few years and could have also worked instead teacher for a time, in keeping with police.

“While investigations into these cases are ongoing, we are aware that there may be additional victims who have not yet come forward,” police said.

Police urged potential victims to contact the police department's child welfare unit at 510-981-5715.

Three years ago, Shana Ferguson stood poolside on the U.S. Olympic Qualifiers in Omaha, Nebraska, thrilled to see greater than 12,000 swimming fans watching, but she dared to dream greater.

So, much greater.

“What would that look like in a football stadium?” Ferguson wondered aloud.

Three years later, after countless meetings on topics akin to electrical, plumbing and wastewater engineering, the amazement has finally given method to reality. Ferguson, USA Swimming's business director, and her team of suppliers are only days away from opening an important swimming event on American soil this four-year cycle, in front of what is predicted to be the biggest audience ever to attend a swimming event.

The upcoming U.S. Olympic Qualifiers will likely be held June 15-23 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. This will likely be the primary time the Olympic qualifying tournament has been held in a football stadium. Organizers hope to attract nearly 30,000 spectators on the primary night of the finals, breaking the previous world record.

It will likely be a spectacle – to place it mildly.

“This is the first time anything like this has been attempted in the world,” said Mark Dodd, president of Dodd Technologies, which essentially served as the overall contractor for USA Swimming on the event. “A lot of people are going to come here and look at what we built. We're going to be the model.”

Ferguson added: “We have to make sure we provide these athletes with an incredible experience that will be the highlight of their careers for many of them. We have a responsibility to provide them with a really insanely cool environment.”

It all began, not surprisingly, with the pool itself, which has been under construction for the past three weeks. Construction began on May 12 and was accomplished this week. Nearly 1.7 million gallons of water were brought in from the nearby White River. The water is then stored in tanks that allow for constant circulation, purification and chlorination before flowing out and in of the three pools which were built.

“If you watch it on TV, it will look like an in-ground pool, as if the pool is at ground level,” Ferguson said. “But we're putting an above-ground pool on top of the concrete and building a patio around it. The pool with the patio will actually touch the first 10 rows of seats.”

Raising the pool deck and the perceived floor level for fans will create enough depth for the three pools required. One is the 50-metre long, three-metre deep competition pool – the usual depth for elite swimmers – where all eyes will likely be trained over the nine nights; the opposite two are warm-up pools separated from the competition pool by a curtain on the 50-yard line.

Myrtha Pools, an organization that focuses on organising and tearing down large temporary pools, built the competition pool and two warm-up pools. Spear Corp. in nearby Roachdale, Indiana, handled all of the plumbing, pumps and filtration. Dodd's team is specifically accountable for the decks, scoreboard, signage and all other equipment needed to make the event successful.

“Our biggest challenge was really figuring out what a traditional spectator sport is in a small pool hall and scaling it to work in a space of this size,” Dodd said.

In short, USA Swimming is attempting to sustain with increasing demand. This event continues to grow seemingly every Olympic cycle — and outgrows its venues. The last trials were held in Indianapolis in 2000, with the event held on the 4,700-seat Indiana University Natatorium. Then in 2004, the trials were held outdoors in Long Beach, California, and from 2008 to 2021, they moved to a basketball arena in downtown Omaha, Nebraska. (Myrtha Pools also built the Long Beach pool and the 4 Omaha pools.) In 2016, nearly 200,000 fans attended 15 sold-out sessions. The venue can accommodate about 13,000 swimmers.

Lucas Oil Stadium has much more seating. Its swimming configuration allows for a capability of around 30,000 spectators with regular stadium seats facing the competition pool, in addition to around 20 rows of movable seats placed in front of the middle field curtain to form a totally enclosed oval for fans. Organizers have planned theme nights (including Father's Day and Juneteenth celebrations that can happen in the course of the event). They are also working with the NBA's Indiana Pacers and WNBA's Fever to draw latest fans who may not yet know much about swimming.

While there will definitely be seats removed from the water's surface, Dodd said visibility will likely be quite good for the greater than 25,000 spectators.

“I don't necessarily know if it's going to be weird or strange, but it's going to be different,” said University of Virginia coach Todd DeSorbo, who will function head coach of the U.S. women's team in Paris. “The more people, the better. And I think the kids will get carried away by the energy of the crowd.”

These evening events, where fans will watch the highest two finishers punch their tickets to Paris, will likely be unforgettable, organizers say. A 50-foot-high video board will stand behind the athletes as they’re announced and enter the pool deck before each final. Ferguson compared it to the players' introduction on Monday Night Football; Dodd said there will likely be the same level of lighting and production to WWE. There will even be a center-hung scoreboard (just like basketball stadiums) since the scoring and timing should be centered above the pool, relatively than where football stadiums have video boards across the edge.

Perhaps one of the best advantage of the football stadium is the installation of the warm-up pool. In Omaha, the warm-up pools were positioned within the convention center as a result of an absence of space in the world. In Indianapolis, they’re separated from the competition pool by only a curtain.

“The thing I'm most excited about is finally having space,” says Bob Bowman, head coach on the University of Texas, who coached Michael Phelps during his profession and can again take quite a few Olympic hopefuls to the trials. “In Omaha, it was so crowded that I just stopped going to the main pool and watching the races because I couldn't get there fast enough to help people warm up and cool down. So I just watched it on the big screen in the warm-up pool.

“It will be great for the participants.”

In what Ferguson calls the “back-of-house athlete experience,” there will be relaxation areas, massages, therapy dogs, nutritional assistance, mental health experts and even a video game room.

“Numerous it’s nerves, hopes and dreams,” Ferguson said. “We have to make certain that even in an enormous stadium, we give the athletes and coaches a way of intimacy where they’ll find peace and solitude and focus, so it's not nearly big lights, Hollywood and excitement.”

In short, it's not just about adding a swimming pool to a football stadium and figuring out where and how to drain the water. It's about repurposing a venue that needs to serve a myriad of purposes for multiple stakeholders at the same time.

And in a week he will be put to the ultimate test – just like the best American swimmers.

The athlete

When the flowers bloom and the temperatures rise, many individuals can't wait to get outside again. But despite the fact that the sun is shining, there may be also a dark side that could make the good outdoors less beautiful.

In the forest, within the soil, within the water and in your food there are herds of germs that wish to smash your summer.

I’m a Professor of Microbiology at Indiana University School of Medicine, where I study and teach infectious diseases. Here are some things to bear in mind to enable you to and your family members stay illness-free during your summer activities.

Germs within the backyard

There is nothing higher than the smell of a very good barbecue and fresh treats from your individual garden. To make sure that people leave your party with only good memories, you ought to be aware of the germs which can be often related to Food poisoningwhich may result in diarrhea, cramps, nausea, vomiting and fever.

Meat, including fish and poultry, often harbors harmful bacteria resembling , or . Raw meat can contaminate anything it touches, so remember to wash your hands and disinfect surfaces and utensils. To avoid cross-contamination, don’t store raw meat near prepared foods. Meat products should be cooked until correct temperatures to make sure that harmful germs are killed before consumption.

In addition to bacteria, a parasite called could cause acute food poisoning. Parasites are microscopically small Oocysts within the feces of infected catsOocysts remain within the environment for a yr or more, and other animals, including humans, may inadvertently ingest them.

In case of infection, Tissue cysts within the meat of livestock – another excuse to cook your meat thoroughly. Pregnant women You should be especially careful to avoid this since the parasite can cross the placenta and cause miscarriage or birth defects.

To prevent toxoplasmosis attributable to oocysts, wear gloves when gardening, wash fruit and veggies, and be sure the sandbox is freed from cat feces and covered when not in use.

Germs in water

Water recreational facilities resembling swimming pools, water parks and fountains are an important technique to escape the summer heat. Smell of chlorine is a very good sign that the water is treated to kill many sorts of germs.

Unfortunately, some germs in chlorine can remain infectious for several minutes or days, which is loads of time to be transmitted from one person to a different. These include viruses resembling NorovirusBacteria like and parasites resembling And .

Accidental ingestion of those germs could cause stomach problems, including diarrhea, which may change into serious if results in dehydrationTo avoid infection, swim in well-maintained facilities and avoid swallowing the water. To avoid infecting others, avoid public waters for not less than every week if you’ve diarrhea.

Bacteria within the water that get stuck in your ear can result in a painful infection called swimmer's ear. Wearing earplugs within the water may also help prevent this.

Ponds, rivers and lakes can be home to those diarrhea-causing germs. Warm fresh water can even the so-called “brain-eating amoeba.” Inhaling water with this disease is incredibly rare, but almost all the time fatal. Wearing a nose clip may also help prevent infection.

When you go to the beach, remember to use waterproof bandages if you’ve an open wound, piercing or tattoo. Global warming has led to a rise in so-called “flesh-eating bacteria” that cause a dangerous disease called necrotizing fasciitisThese infections could be very difficult to treat and will require surgical removal of the affected tissue or limb.

Shellfish resembling oysters, clams and mussels filter the seawater once they are eaten, trapping germs of their bodies. Eating raw shellfish can result in severe food poisoning from infections. with bacteria or Oocysts.

Tracking germs

While mountaineering or camping, it’s possible you’ll come across water that appears clean enough to drink, but don't be tempted.

Be sure to Boil water or filter it well You drink to avoid bacteria like and parasites resembling And These intestinal pathogens cause cramps, nausea and diarrhea – particularly unpleasant symptoms when you do not need access to sanitation in the home.

After a really mild winter, you possibly can expect to see lots of ticks and mosquitoes in the summertime, each of which transmit serious diseases. Because they feed on blood, ticks can inject bacteria that Lyme disease or Rocky Mountain spotted feverThey can even transmit a parasite that causes BabesiosisSymptoms of illness following a tick bite ought to be checked by a health care provider as soon as possible.

Mosquitoes can transmit quite a few viruses that enter the bloodstream during a blood meal. The most typical mosquito-borne viruses within the United States include West Nile virus, Eastern equine encephalomyelitis And ZikaIn most cases, these viruses cause flu-like symptoms that typically disappear on their very own. However, infection with the Zika virus while pregnant can result in birth defectand West Nile virus could cause acute fever and neurological effects in some people.

To Avoid tick and mosquito bitesApply insect repellent and canopy your skin each time possible. Wear light colours so you possibly can see the insects more easily. Ticks like shade and tall grass, so mow your lawn to about 2 inches high. Be sure to examine your body and scalp for ticks after being outdoors.

It's vital to follow local news reports about outbreaks of infectious pathogens in your area or destination. By following these precautions, you're sure to have an important time without being bothered by the germs of summer.