His challenges and expectations of being one of the most decorated swimmers in Olympic history have transformed his approach to competition and training. Following a challenging US trials where he clinched victories in the 50m free and 100m butterfly, thus earning a chance to defend two of his three individual titles from the rescheduled Tokyo 2020, Dressel reflected, "I don’t know what’s possible."

In the 100m freestyle, he fell short of victory, placing third behind emerging talents Chris Guiliano and Jack Alexy in a blistering final that left him in the mix for a potential relay slot.

This is a far cry from his pre-Tokyo Games experience, when he entered as the two-time reigning world champion in all three of his individual events and walked away with five gold medals, furthering the Olympic legacy he began with two relay golds in Rio 2016.

However, Dressel’s drive for perfection came at a high personal cost, leading him to leave the 2022 World Championships abruptly. He later spoke honestly about feeling mentally “broken” due to the enormous pressure he had placed on himself.

"I would love if I could get back to the point where I was five years old," Dressel said. "It was simply swimming, that's all it was. You were just swimming, there wasn't any media, you didn't care how you felt, that's what drew me into the sport and there's things that I've put up with that I don't like or things about the sport that I hate."

Dressel continues to admire Michael Phelps’ longevity and remarkable achievements, and now feels that such comparisons seem unfair. "I get it, trying to find the next guy," Dressel said. "But I have said multiple times I'm not Michael, at all, and I'm fine with admitting that.

"I think I'm pretty damn good at what I do. And I've exceeded a lot of my expectations in the sport, and I have drained the talent that I have, and I'm still continuing to do that." However, Dressel acknowledges that he’s uncertain about how much more he can achieve.

"I don't know if I'll ever go a best time ever again, and that's tough to say out loud, it really is," Dressel said. "When you're 19, 20, 21, you keep chipping away. I'm still working harder than ever, finding outlets, finding every path I can take to shave those couple tenths. I'm really good at racing. You put me in a race, I will make it close, as close as I possibly can, even if I have to try to kill myself to get there."