Caeleb Dressel (Illness) to Miss Cali Condors’ Final ISL Regular Season Match
Caeleb Dressel will miss the remainder of the International Swimming League regular season, Cali Condors general manager Jason Lezak announced Tuesday.
Dressel was rested in the second day of ISL Match 6 after an illness. Without him, the Condors finished second in that match behind the London Roar. With two wins this season, the Condors are securely in the ISL semifinals with 11 team points, making their fourth match mostly academic.
The Condors have a quick turnaround for Match 7 this week against Team Iron, Toronto Titans and NY Breakers, a group that they can almost certainly finish at least second against those teams even without Dressel.
As such, Lezak and the Condors made the decision to rest Dressel for the remainder of the regular season and prep for the semifinals in November.
“Caeleb was not feeling well before his match on the 12th and as a team, we decided that it would be best for him to sit out of the rest of the regular season so that he will be in optimal condition for the playoffs,” Lezak said in a statement. “His contribution to Cali Condors has been invaluable and we are excited about what the rest of the season holds for our team. With his leadership, the Cali Condors will head to the playoffs with confidence to defend our title.”
Dressel has won 12 individual races in 2.5 matches this season. He wasn’t too adversely affected in Match 6, winning the 100 fly and turning in a fast 200 IM swim of 1:51.14. He tied for 16th in the MVP standings in that match despite only swimming half the meet.
His 233 points for the season are the most in ISL by a wide margin, though the Condors have swim three matches to most teams’ two. He was the runner-up to Coleman Stewart for Match 2 MVP with 93 points, then won the Match 4 MVP award with 112.5 points. In that one match, he scored more points than all but eight ISL swimmers have all season.