JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — When Caeleb Dressel won his gold medal in the 2016 Rio Olympics, racing with Michael Phelps, First Coast News asked him right after the medal ceremony, "Do you even believe it?"
"Not yet. No," Dressel answered.
Now eight years later, Dressel is taking his powerhouse style to Paris for the 2024 Olympics.
But to understand his success, it helps to go back to his days training at the University of Florida when he was a student. His head coach then was a well-known figure in the swimming world, Gregg Troy. He was already talking back then about Dressel's vertical jump hitting 41 inches, up eight inches from where it was at, at 32 inches.
Nowadays, Dressel is out of college but, still trains at UF. Various reports put his vertical jump at around 41-43 inches.
So, why does it matter?
Dressel's vertical jump propels him into a super fast underwater swim to 15 meters. He often hits that 15-meter mark before any other swimmer, crucial because athletes can swim their fastest underwater, but rules in the Olympics say a swimmer must break the surface of the water at 15 meters, which is approximately 50 feet.
Dressel uses that high-powered start to his advantage.
The Bolles School head coach Peter Verhoef says Dressel's fast start always includes perfect positioning.
"You notice how clean his feet are coming into the water," Verhoef told First Coast News.
Dressel's coaches now at UF, including Olympian Anthony Nesty, talk about how Dressel is almost one with the water. They say he studies the science of the sport.