Mexican swimmer Gabriel Castaño achieved an incredible feat in the pool at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games by defeating none other than Caeleb Dressel, the American who is considered the ‘new Michael Phelps’.
Both swimmers were in the 10th qualifying heat of the 50m freestyle competition, the fastest event in swimming, and the Mexican finished in fifth place with a time of 21.89 seconds, two hundredths faster than Dressel.
Both qualified for the Semi-Finals in the competition and although it is very likely that Dressel will finish better than the Mexican in his next appearance, Castaño already has a ‘star’ on his resume.
WHO IS THE MEXICAN SWIMMER GABRIEL CASTAÑO WHO BEAT CAELEB DRESSEL, THE ‘NEW MICHAEL PHELPS’?
Gabriel Castaño is from Monterrey, although he currently lives in the United States, where he trains for swimming and has already competed in Tokyo 2020.
He studies at Penn State University and is part of the Texas North Ford Aquatics team, so he constantly tests himself against swimmers of the highest level.
In fact, this is not the first time he has managed to beat Caeleb Dressel, as he also beat him at the TYR Pro Swim Series, an event where he earned his ticket to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
On that occasion, Castaño achieved a time of 21.70, compared to 21.85 for Dressel. It should be noted that he is the only Mexican in history to swim the 50m freestyle in under 22 seconds.
