Caeleb Dressel, the seven-time Olympic swimming gold medallist launching a comeback after months away from the pool, came up short Saturday in his final chance to make the US World Championships team.

Dressel, who pulled out of last year’s World Championships in Budapest citing unspecified medical concerns and took an extended break from training, finished tied for 22nd in the 50m freestyle heats at the US championships in Indianapolis, 1.07sec behind pace-setter Ryan Held.

Dressel’s coach, Anthony Nesty, said the swimmer’s results were about what they expected after his time off and, most importantly, he’s enjoying the sport again.

“Mentally, he’s right where he needs to be,” Nesty said in comments reported by Swimming World magazine. “He’s happy, first time I’ve seen him happy swimming in a long time.

Read full story on sport.timesofmalta.com

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