Who Is Caeleb Dressel's Wife, Meghan?
Olympic swimmer Caeleb Dressel was just 19 years old when he competed in the international sporting event for the first time. His performance in the 2016 games in Rio de Janeiro proved to be memorable when he delivered two gold medals for Team USA. His return appearance was even more spectacular. If his name wasn't already familiar to swimming fans, it certainly was after he brought home five more gold medals from the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, setting a new world record in the process. He's also come to gain some self-knowledge along the way. "I feel like I've learned a lot about myself through the sport," Dressel said while speaking with the Olympics.com podcast.
As his fans well know, Dressel isn't undertaking this journey on his own. By his side at every step along the way has been his wife, Meghan Dressel, whom he married in 2021 after many years together. And while his Herculean accomplishments in the sport of swimming may occasionally overshadow her, those who've been paying attention can have no doubt that she's an accomplished professional in her own right, carving out her own path in the world.
But what do we really know about the woman behind the superstar Olympic athlete? Just who is Meghan Dressel?
Meghan Dressel was also a competitive swimmer
Like her future husband Caeleb Dressel, Meghan Dressel's story begins in a swimming pool. Then known as Meghan Haila, her record as a high school swimmer was impressive. As the St. Augustine Record reported back in 2013, she was a star athlete — even named the Florida newspaper's "Girls Swimmer of the Year." Other accomplishments included winning the 100-yard breaststroke at a statewide swim meet, and being named her county's top female swimmer for two consecutive years.
At the time, she was preparing to compete in the Olympic trials while fielding scholarship offers from various universities, including such prestigious institutions as Vanderbilt. As she told the Record, her training philosophy was to never rest on her laurels. "Once you've reached one of your goals you immediately move on to another one," she said. "You have to keep getting better."
Later that same year, she made a verbal commitment to Florida State to become part of the university's Seminoles swimming team. Unlike her future husband, however, Meghan decided to stop swimming competitively in order to focus on her studies. "She mainly did breaststroke but she stopped competing her sophomore year [at Florida State University in Tallahassee], to pursue her dream of becoming a child-family counsellor," Caeleb said in a 2020 interview with World Aquatics. "She's in her second year of graduate school at UF. This is the first time we've lived in the same city since we've been dating."
She met her future husband while swimming
It was their shared love of swimming that brought Caeleb Dressel and his future bride Meghan together. Interviewed for "In Depth with Graham Bensinger," the pair revealed they first met while in elementary school, where they both participate in swim meets. "She totally had a crush on me when I was little," Caeleb recalled. Meghan didn't disagree but admitted she wasn't the only one infatuated with him. "He was the heartthrob of all the little girls at the time," she said.
It wasn't until years later, however, that the two would reconnect as teenagers. As Caeleb recalled when interviewed by World Aquatics, they both utilized the famed swimming pool at the Bolles School in Jacksonville, Florida, during off-hours. "Meghan and I swam at Bolles together, in the late-night group because we didn't go to school there," Dressel explained. It was then, he told "In Depth with Graham Bensinger," that he took particular notice of her. "Once we started swimming late night together, I was like, 'Dang, this girl is super hot,'" he remembered.
When the two were interviewed by First Coast News, they revealed a big stumbling block in their budding romance: For several years, they lived in different cities and would only see each other when they came to Bolles to swim. "We grew up swimming together but lived, like, 45 minutes apart," Meghan said. Caeleb added, "So we had a meeting spot at ... Shands Pier."
She earned a master's degree
After setting aside her dreams of competitive swimming, Meghan Haila, as she was then known, immersed herself in her studies while attending Florida State University in Tallahassee.
In December 2020, her dream of becoming a therapist came one step closer to reality when she graduated, earning a Master of Education (MEd) degree, in addition to an Ed.S (Education Specialist) degree.
"Man oh man what a ride the last 2.5 years have been!" she wrote in an Instagram post, accompanying some celebratory photos, including one of herself decked out in the traditional cap and gown. While she knew the field of study would be tough, she admitted she hadn't been prepared for just how difficult it would be. "The ways in which I would be challenged, pushed, and stretched has lead to growth in places and ways I never imagined, and friendships that formed deeper than I ever knew I needed," she added, before concluding, "This girl is officially in the real world of Marriage and Family Therapy! IM DONE."
She's compared her love story with Caeleb to The Notebook
For Caeleb Dressel, it was apparent that Meghan Haila was "the one" from the very beginning of their relationship. "I told Meghan two months into dating her I was going to marry her," Dressel recalled in an interview with the Associated Press. "I should have done it way earlier."
In fact, the love that sparked between the two teenagers isn't all that different from the plot of "The Notebook," the Nicholas Sparks novel that was adapted for the screen in a 2004 movie starring Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams. That similarity did not go unnoticed by Meghan. In 2020, she took to Instagram to post a photo of the couple posing in front of a swimming pool, along with a romantic caption.
"What started with these couple of kids crazy about each other, has turned into the promise of a lifetime of love that would give Noah and Allie a run for their money," she wrote, referencing the protagonists of "The Notebook." "I've loved you since 2013 and I can't wait to keep loving you forever," she continued, concluding by predicting — correctly, as it turned out — that they'd be married before the time Valentine's Day rolled around.
She finds cheering him on when he competes to be 'nerve-racking'
It's not uncommon to see Meghan Dressel cheering on husband Caeleb while he swims, and she's been doing it for years. That was certainly the case when the 19-year-old swimmer made his Olympic debut at the 2016 games in Rio de Janeiro, emerging with two gold medals. That said, Meghan has also admitted that the energy and excitement she displayed was also tempered with a certain degree of anxiety. "Watching him swim on the most coveted stage in our sport was incredible. Definitely nerve-racking, but way more exciting than anything else," she explained in an interview with Odyssey.
In fact, her stress level was significantly higher when he competed for a spot on the Olympic team during the trials, which were held in Omaha, Nebraska. "I wanted to puke at all times in Omaha," she added, explaining that she found herself less anxious in Rio since he'd already made it that far.
Because of the pandemic-related circumstances surrounding the 2020 games in Tokyo (which were delayed until 2021), Meghan had to cheer on Caeleb from home while he experienced his greatest medal haul yet, winning a staggering five gold medals. Despite the distance, he insisted he could still feel all the cheering coming from his friends and family back in the U.S. "I know we're a couple, what is it, a thousand miles away from back home," he told People, "but I could feel that support."
She's admitted that being in love with an Olympic gold medalist is 'not always easy'
Caeleb and Meghan Dressel spent many years in a long-distance relationship before finally getting married, a situation that certainly wasn't beneficial for their relationship during the years when they lived dar away for each other. "We did long distance for, I guess technically, seven years," Caeleb told First Coast News. "We never lived in the same city." Despite that pretty obvious impediment, the couple somehow managed to make it work.
Speaking with Odyssey, Meghan admitted that keeping it all together took a lot of commitment — from both of them — and prioritizing their relationship proved to be a key factor. "To be honest it's not always easy, but I'm a firm believer in that if you want to spend time with someone, you make the time," she explained. "Both of us just make time for each other whenever we can."
Once Caeleb won a spot on the Olympic team, the demands placed upon him became even greater than they already were. Despite it all, however, the couple's romance continued to burn bright. "I think because we've had to deal with distance, it's made us stronger as a couple," she pointed out.
She was blown away when Caeleb popped the question
When Caeleb Dressel decided it was time to propose to Meghan, he concocted an elaborate plan that would unfold in a locale that had deep meaning for both of them: Shands Pier in St. Augustine, Florida, the halfway point between their respective homes where they used to meet whenever their schedules allowed.
Discussing the proposal with First Coast News, he revealed that he'd convinced Meghan they were going there for a photo shoot with his sister, a photographer. When they arrived, Meghan was completely taken by surprise when Caeleb got down on one knee.
As Meghan recalled to "In Depth with Graham Bensinger," "He gave me a push forward, and I turned around to be like, 'Why'd you push me?' and I turn around and he's on the ground, and I thought he fell." She went on, "And the first thing out of my mouth was, 'You're kidding me.' I've never been more surprised in my life."
As that magical moment unfolded, Caeleb's sister snapped away, immortalizing that special event in their lives — just as had been planned.
She described their wedding day as 'a dream'
On February 13, 2021, Meghan Haila became Meghan Dressel after she walked down the aisle to marry Caeleb Dressel. "Yesterday was a dream," she wrote in a post-wedding Instagram post, accompanying a photo of the bride and groom sharing a kiss.
The wedding was an emotional experience for both of them, but that was particularly for true Caeleb, who did some unabashed, self-described "ugly crying" during the nuptials. As Meghan told "In Depth with Graham Bensinger," her husband has always had a tendency to wear his heart on his sleeve, a trait that was absolutely on display during their wedding. "He's a very tender-hearted man, and I love that about him," Meghan said of her spouse, admitting she found that to be an uncommon trait among men.
In fact, she's a firm believer in the beneficial results that can be gained by letting one's feelings out — this is not too surprising, considering the nature of her profession. "Coming from a marriage and family therapy background," she explained, "emotions are my bread and butter."
Meghan Dressel became a mom in 2024
In the summer of 2023, Caeleb Dressel and wife Meghan took the next step in their relationship journey when she took to Instagram to issue a big announcement. "MOM AND DAD," she wrote in the caption, accompanying several photos of the couple, in which Meghan held ultrasound images of their unborn child. "Baby Dressel coming February 2024." They followed up that post with a gender reveal, sharing their little bundle of joy was going to be a boy.
As scheduled, the couple's son arrived the following February, with the couple returning to Instagram to share a sweet photo of their adorable newborn, August Wilder Dressel, sleeping peacefully.
Meghan shared her thoughts on motherhood, once again via Instagram, while celebrating her first Mother's Day as a mom. "The greatest joy, challenge, honor and blessing of my life is getting to be this little boy's Mama," she wrote in the caption to a series of photos in which she and her son enjoy a day at the beach. "I've lost count of the amount of times I've cried happy tears of gratitude and awe today," she added. "The unwavering, unconditional, sacrificial love of a mother is not of this world. And it's the most precious love there is."
She shares her husband's deep faith
Not only are Caeleb and Meghan Dressel connected by their love for each other — along with the mutual passion for swimming that brought them together in the first place — they've also bonded over their deep religious faith. That was clear in an Instagram post she issued in celebration of their wedding, detailing the profoundly spiritual nature of their union. "Marriage is a sacrament, and a blessing, and the Holy Spirit allowed us to truly feel the beauty of that," she wrote. "Jesus was experienced all around us this day, and what a gift it was. Praise the Lord, because he is so, so good."
Of course, Meghan's deep faith mirrors that of her husband, who has been known to write Bible verses on his face while competing as a swimmer. His beliefs have also provided him with motivation whenever he swims. As he told, Baptist Press, "It's the reason I'm in the sport, not just to go fast times, but to inspire people and show them where I find my happiness with what God's given me."
She's a Gilmore Girls fan – and she influenced Caeleb to become one too
When competing at the Olympics, Caeleb Dressel has faced unimaginable pressure. Judging by all the gold medals he's won, it would be easy to assume that handling that immense stress is something he's become used to. That, however, is far from the case. "Some people just have a better skill set to deal with the pressure," Dressel told Women's Wear Daily. "Quite honestly, mine's not that great. It's not something I was born to deal with ..."
His astonishing performance at the Tokyo Olympics — where he won five gold medals — didn't come without taking a toll on his mental health. "I think I overdid it, to be honest. I got great results, but I think it was to a fault," he revealed during an interview with People. "Because I drove myself crazy and I don't think that's fair to myself. ... I would like to prioritize myself a little bit more instead of swimming."
Luckily, his wife Meghan, as a marriage and family therapist, is something of an expert on mental health. In that capacity, she seems to have encouraged him to take time for himself to unwind and dial down the stress. How? "Meghan started watching 'Gilmore Girls' and it's so good," Caeleb told People. "So I've been tearing up some 'Gilmore Girls.'"
She and Caeleb own three cows, named after Mean Girls' Plastics
Meghan can often be found on her Florida farm, chilling with her young son, August, and her husband Caeleb. The farm provide Caeleb with a calm setting to spend his downtime, and the family enjoys all the perks of farm living. That includes taking care of their three cows.
Showing off their farm while appearing on "In Depth with Graham Bensinger," Meghan introduced their bovine trio, whom she'd named after high-school clique the Plastics from the absolutely fetch comedy movie "Mean Girls." "This is Regina, because she's the boss," Meghan explained. "That's Katie, and that's Gretchen, and they're named after the Mean Girls, because they got some attitude."
According to Meghan, the cows are just the first members of the ultimate menagerie they have planned. "Chickens are next," she said. "Maybe ducks for the pond. And then some day we'd love to have horses, but that's in the future," she added, explaining that they spend too much time traveling at the moment to provide the necessary degree of care that horses require — unlike their cows, who were surprisingly low-maintenance. "You really don't have to do very much them," Caeleb observed. Meghan agreed, saying, "They're very easy to take care of."