As Caeleb Dressel chases Team USA gold in Tokyo Olympics, family watches on edge of seats

By now, Olympic fans the world over have seen the tears of jubilation from Caeleb Dressel after his long-awaited first individual gold medal.

And they've watched his family screaming along with every stroke.

"He's just a little guy," said his older sister, Kaitlyn, "but somehow he made it on the big-time TV, and it's just crazy."

While Caeleb Dressel challenges the world's best in the Olympic swimming competition at the Tokyo Aquatics Center, the Green Cove Springs native's family has been riding a tsunami of emotion from halfway around the planet in Florida.

"We're still in disbelief, excited, happy for him, all of those things kind of meshed together," Mike Dressel said.

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Caeleb Dressel's family glued to the TV for every race

Gathered in Kissimmee for the Olympic week, the Dressel family — including father Mike, mother Christina, wife Meghan and siblings Tyler, Kaitlyn and Sherridon — has been glued to every move.

The heats. The semifinals. The finals. Watching the medals mount.

That is, for the ones who can even watch.

"Everybody reacts to the races differently," Tyler said. "Some people stand up and they're screaming their heads off. Other people kind of freeze up and internalize everything."

Because of COVID-19 protocols, organizers aren't allowing spectators, families included, at the Olympic venues in Tokyo for these virus-delayed Games.

"That's one thing we miss, being here and not in Tokyo," Mike said. "We've seen a lot of these races at big meets every year. We get the parents on our team and kind of bond with them, and then we make friends with parents on the other teams as well."

But regardless of the time zone or the ZIP code, the Dressels aren't just viewing the Olympics.

They're living them.

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They've watched the 24-year-old grow from his Clay High School days into a world-record holder, a 13-time FINA champion (seven gold medals in 2017, six in 2019), and the rapidly-rising face of American swimming, a status that extends from his "Make Waves" campaigns with Speedo — the swimwear manufacturer is hosting the family's watch party for Saturday night's finals — to his appearances on national broadcasts, even the Today Show, throughout the Games.

And they've endured the year-plus of uncertainty about the Olympics' status amid the coronavirus pandemic.

"That has been the hardest year. That's the emotions of all that hard work, waiting that extra year," Christina said. "It's just hard."

Olympic trials were enough of an emotional ride

The U.S. Olympic Trials, which wrapped up in June in Omaha, Neb., had already steered the family through one week-long emotional roller coaster.

Multiply the thrill of competition with the spotlight of the Olympics and the emotional strain of the 7,000-mile distance from Tokyo to Florida. 

The resulting tension: off the charts.

The world watched the family's thrill ride during Caeleb's 100-meter freestyle final on Wednesday night. He launched from the block in front — his spring-loaded start that rockets him into the early lead in virtually every race he swims — but after he turned for home and edged ahead of Russian rival Kliment Kolesnikov, a yellow swim cap surged into view two lanes away.

The hard part was watching Australian Kyle Chalmers, Olympic champion in 2016, claw through the water stroke by stroke by stroke. The lead was shrinking. The wall was approaching. 

Then...

"You're watching in real-time, you're cheering, and all these races are so close," Mike said. "On the TV there was an OR [Olympic Record], and that was his lane, so I knew he had won it. But it's so quick to process everything that's going on."

The long-awaited individual Olympic gold brought tears to Caeleb's eyes as he spoke with NBC following his victory.

"They're happy tears, but it's very emotional, especially for him but for us here... we're very, very proud," Tyler said. "It kind of hits home."

By Thursday evening, he had captured two gold medals in Tokyo. He's not slowing down. The tension isn't letting up.

The Dressels are weathering the tension. But they're also looking forward to the day when they can gather again, now as the family of an Olympic individual champion.

Together.

"He's just going to want to come back and chill," Mike said.

"I know all of us would love to run up and hug him and be cheering with him in person," Kaitlyn said. "But at the same time, I just think we're so excited that the athletes finally get to compete. It really doesn't matter that we're halfway across the world."