INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Caeleb Dressel finished ninth in the preliminaries of the 100-meter butterfly at the U.S. national championships on Thursday, but he claimed a spot in the “A” final when Ryan Murphy scratched.
Dressel, who won five gold medals at the Tokyo Olympics, was attempting to qualify for the world championships after taking a long layoff.
He already missed out in the 100 freestyle and 50 fly, showing he's not nearly back to the level he was two summers ago.
Murphy's withdrawal gave Dressel another shot to make the U.S. team in the evening final. But he'll need to go much faster than he did in the morning, when his time of 51.95 seconds left him 1.08 behind top qualifier Dare Rose.
Murphy, who specializes in the backstroke, was second-fastest at 51.35 but decided not to swim in the final.
The top two evening finishers will earn spots for the world championships next months in Fukuoka, Japan.
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