Caeleb Dressel and his men’s 4×100 meter freestyle relay teammates won Team USA’s first gold medal of the Paris Olympics, and all the anchor wanted to do was celebrate with his family.
“It was really special,” Dressel, 27, told NBC reporters on Saturday, July 27, at the end of the race. “I mean, my son getting to watch me win a gold medal is everything.”
He continued, “I know that last 50, I just wanted to get a gold medal for these guys. It’s just really special [and] it’s what we came here to do. That’s why it was so tough to make a team and we won by over a second. That’s what we came here to do and we did it in good fashion.”
Dressel competed alongside Jack Alexy, Chris Guiliano and Hunter Armstrong. The U.S. team finished the relay race with a time of 3:09.28, besting Australia in second and Italy in third.
While Caeleb swam in the Olympic pool, wife Meghan Dressel watched from the stands next to rapper Snoop Dogg. Meghan held the couple’s son, August, in her arms throughout the race.
When Caeleb excited the pool upon the team’s victory, he sprinted over to Meghan and August for a sweet embrace.
“This Games just hits different,” Meghan wrote via Instagram Story later on Saturday, sharing footage from Caeleb’s race.
Caeleb married Meghan in February 2021, two years before expanding their family. Meghan gave birth to August in February 2024.
“Welcome to the world, August Wilder Dressel 🕊️✨,” Caeleb and Meghan captioned a joint Instagram post. “Our baby boy came bursting into our arms on Saturday morning after a very swift and powerful labor. Mom and Dad were in it together, and we had the intervention-free birth that we had so hoped and prepared for.”
They added, “It was more raw, incredible and beautiful than we ever could have dreamed of, and brought us this perfect, healthy, chunky baby boy. God is so good! We are still at a loss for words over it all. August, you have forever changed our world and our hearts.”
Meghan also brought August to Caeleb’s Olympic trials earlier this summer.
“Two years ago to the week, we hit rock bottom across the world [and] one year ago to the day, we found out we were pregnant with our greatest joy,” Meghan wrote via Instagram in June. “Today, Caeleb qualifies for his 3rd Olympic team with his son in the stands. I don’t have the words to encompass the journey between these markers other than challenging and transformative. To walk this road hand in hand with him will always be my greatest honor.”