“Guys taught some of the girls how to play poker” - Caeleb Dressel on ‘fun’ experiences at team USA training camps

US swimmer Caeleb Dressel is one of the biggest superstars in swimming across the world. He burst out on the global scene dominating the pools at the Tokyo Olympics last year with five gold medals, two Olympic records and one world record to his name. Despite his illustrious achievements, the man is known for his genuine humility.

It was on showcase when he appeared on 'Good Morning America' in August last year, fresh off his Olympic victory. While recounting the time before going to Tokyo, Dressel mentioned the "fun" that the USA team had at the training camps.

In the follow-up to the Olympics, USA Swimming conducted a 17-day training camp in Hawaii and Caeleb Dressel recalled that the memories made there were one of his highlights.

He said:

"I would say some of the highlights were Team USA becoming Team USA. People have different college program, different states all coming together for about three weeks before you get to coming together for about three weeks before you get to compete together as Team USA and the memories that we've made along that whole month."

He added that during the course of the training camp, some of the guys on the team taught the girls how to play poker:

"I think one of them (memories) is some of the guys taught some of the girls how to play poker."

Caeleb Dressel went on to add that he taught Brooke Forde but she didn't end up doing well in poker. He said:

"The person I was with, Brooke, and she was out second to last. I feel bad. I was a bad coach in that situation but that was probably one of the highlights for me."

When the interviewers joked about who cared about the gold medals as against the poker night, Dressel joined in by saying:

"(It was) Some of the worst poker I've ever played. I only won one game, I lost both the tournaments and probably played over 12, I did terrible, yeah."

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"All the moments at camp where we really become Team USA" - Caeleb Dressel

Ryan Murphy, Michael Andrew, Caeleb Dressel and Zach Apple of Team United States pose on the podium during the medal ceremony for the Men's 4 x 100m Medley Relay Final (Image via Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

This was not the first time Caeleb Dressel talked about the poker nights during training camps in Hawaii. While speaking to People magazine during a press conference in Tokyo, he mentioned how Team USA became Team USA. He spoke about how the poker lessons showcased the "uniqueness" of USA Swimming.

He said:

"This was one of my highlights and this just goes to showcase the uniqueness of USA swimming."

He added how it contributed to team building, saying the women always clapped for each other after every hand. He added:

"We were teaching [the women] how to play and we were I guess the coaches. … Just moments like that, it's so much fun. They always clapped for each other after every hand. Moments like that, all the moments at camp where we really become Team USA."

Caeleb Dressel highlighted a very important point, saying that team bonding doesn't happen "at the end of the meet when you're getting medals and setting world records." He said that it happened during the little moments during the training camps.

He said:

"You become Team USA when you're teaching some of the girls to play poker or you're getting food someplace in Hawaii together. It's the stupid little moments, it's not the big moments that are caught on cameras, it's the stuff you guys don't see. And that's what makes this team so unique."

The team certainly put on a great show in Tokyo last year, taking home truckloads of medals from the Olympics.