2020 INTERNATIONAL SWIMMING LEAGUE: MATCH 3
- Saturday, October 24: 12 PM – 2 PM Local Time (6 AM – 8 AM Eastern, 7 PM – 9 PM Japan Time)
- Sunday, October 25: 5 PM – 7 PM Local Time (12 PM – 2 PM Eastern, 1 AM – 3 AM J+1 Japan)
- Duna Arena – Budapest, Hungary
- Short Course Meters (SCM) Format
- 2020 ISL Scoring Format
- 2020 ISL Prize Money and Bonuses
- How To Watch
- ISL Match 3, Day 1 Full Results
- Teams: Toronto Titans, Tokyo Frog Kings, Aqua Centurions, LA Current
Last week, we saw all eight returning teams compete in week 1 of ISL Season 2. At Match 1, reigning champs Energy Standard were defeated by the Cali Condors who placed 3rd in last year’s finale. At that same meet, LA Current finished third, and the New York Breakers followed with fourth place.
At Match 2, the Aqua Centurions, London Roar, Iron, and DC Trident faced off with London decisively taking the win, more than 200 points over second-place Iron. DC Trident and Aqua were third and fourth, respectively.
Today LA Current and the Aqua Centurions make their return to the pool, becoming the first teams to race twice in Season 2. They will be met by two new franchises this year; the Toronto Titans and Tokyo Frog Kings. Returning Season 1 all-stars Kylie Masse (CAC), Shane Ryan (LAC), and Michael Chadwick (LAC), along with recently un-retired Brent Hayden will lead the Titans into their first meet. As for the Frog Kings, Vlad Morozov, Yui Ohashi, Ryosuke Irie, and Kosuke Hagino will lead the team into their debut meet. On the heels of their first meet, many members of the Frog Kings showed their short course speed at the 2020 Japan Short Course Championships.
Follow along with ISL Season 2 Match 3 below;
Recap: Ben Dornan, Analysis: Retta Race
LANES
- 1 & 2 – Tokyo Frog Kings
- 3 & 4 – LA Current
- 5 & 6 – Aqua Centurions
- 7 & 8 – Toronto Titans
START LISTS
WOMEN’S 100 FLY
The top 2 finishers in this 100 fly were both rookies, as Toronto Titans’ Louise Hansson got it done for 10.0 points, jackpotting Aqua’s Haley Black for 1 point. The NCAA 100 fly record holder narrowly touched out a charging Tokyo Frog King member is Suzuka Hasegawa, who wrangled up 6 points of her own.
Hasegawa hit a time tonight of 56.51 to Hansson’s 56.45, with Hasegawa faster at last weekend’s JPN SC Championships in 56.39.
In this event, Sarah Sjostrom still owns the fastest time of the league thus far with a match #1 time of 56.00, showing that ENS is the team to beat now that we’ve seen all of the teams.
MEN’S 100 FLY
Tom Shields impresses once again, following up on his 100 fly victory from match #1 with another big win here. Splitting 22.93 at the half, he closed in 26.37 to nab 10 points with a final time of 49.30. That was faster than his 49.58 from the previous match, still remaining atop the entire league.
Runner-up was rookie Takeshi Kawamoto who nailed a time of 49.88 to already make an impact early on. He clocked a JPN national record in this event in 49.54 just last week.
Szabo of Aqua Centurions was relegated to 3rd after having the top spot in match #2, while LAC’s Rooney was off his sub-50 that garnered him 3rd in match #1, settling for 6th here in 50.36. Toronto was a non-factor, with Irish national record holder Shane Ryan finishing 7th and teammate Sergey Fesikov was jackpotted.
For Ryan, this marks the first time he has swum the event internationally.
WOMEN’S 200 BACK
Toronto’s backstroke prowess is already apparent, as the team snags the #1 and #2 spots courtesy of Lisa Bratton and Kylie Masse.
In Bratton fashion, she backhalved the race after Tokyo’s Rio Shirai led at the 100m, resulting in the fastest 200 backstroke swim yet this season. Titans rope in a massive 19 points after two swimmers were jackpotted in AQC’s Kathryn Greenslade and LAC’s Katie McLaughlin.
Masse was a Cali Condor in season 1, while Bratton was a DC Trident member, so their combination on the same team this year has already paid dividends.
MEN’S 200 BACK
Ryan Murphy is once again the jackpot king, dominating this men’s 200 back in the fastest time this season. His mark of 1:48.40, within Murphy’s own best, single-handedly rockets his LA Current team into the lead by way of his massive 24 point haul here. This is Murphy’s 4th win of ISL season 2.
Tokyo’s 30-year-old veteran Ryosuke Irie was within range, but fell off towards the end of the race, still producing a solid 1:49.52 for the Frog Kings as the only other swimmer under 1:50. That combined with teammate Markus Thormeyer to divvy 13 points Tokyo’s way. Thormeyer was on the NY Breakers last year, so his presence here on the new team is a nice complement to Irie’s.
Remarkably, anyone after 3rd place in this men’s 200 back was rendered without points, with Papastamos jackpotted for AQC.
WOMEN’S 200 BREAST
Toronto’s Kelsey Wog took the first win of her ISL career, snagging the 200 breast match title ahead of Tokyo’s Reona Aoki. Wog’s time was only .40 off of Lilly King’s 2:17.11 that puts her atop the entire ISL standings.
Also adding points to the Titans was 3rd place finisher Jocelyn Ulyett, transitioning to this squad from her career as an Energy Standard swimmer in season 1.
Of note, AQC’s Arianna Castiglioni was a no-show, automatically putting her team in a 4-point deficit before the race even began. That doesn’t help the squad who already is noticeably weaker on the women’s end after Italian withdrawals and Federica Pellegrini’s positive coronavirus test which rendered her out of the competition.
After Murphy’s stellar 200 back, the LA Current has fallen back a bit, with this race seeing their top finisher Julia Sebastian grab just 4 points.
MEN’S 200 BREAST
With all of the hype among Tokyo Frog Kings’ emerging dynamo Shoma Sato and LA Currents’ powerful duo of Will Licon and Josh Prenot, it was Toronto’s Anton McKee who pulled the upset to top the 200 breast field. Clocking a time of 2:01.73, the Titan’s outing checks-in as a new Icelandic national record and marks the first sub-2:02 of this ISL season.
McKee’s outing beats Marco Koch’s (NYB) result of 2:02.12 that led the ISL field through match 1, giving the Titan a solid 10 points to help his squad’s cause. Aqua Centurions suffered in this race, with Martinenghi representing the top finisher in 2:06.02 after having 4th in his match last week.
WOMEN’S 4X100 FREE RELAY
The LA Current men have won relays in their previous match, but now the women get on the relay points train, courtesy of Anastasia Gorbenko, Andi Murez, Abbey Weitzeil, and Beryl Gastaldello. The squad beat the runners-up of Toronto Titans by exactly a second, grabbing a massive 18.0 points for their victory.
Their 2nd team took 4th to give the squad 28 points total, exemplifying that depth is key in these ISL matches. For comparison, AQC’s relays finished 5th and 8th, resulting in just 10 points total.
The LA Current’s winning time of 3:30.10 was right on par with London Roar’s 3:30.91 but behind ENS’ 3:28.51 to give us perspective as to how the top women’s 400 free relays are shaking out early in this ISL season.
MEN’S 50 FREE
Morozov snags the 50 free for Tokyo Frog Kings, signaling his value to this new ISL team. Post-race, the Russian said his goals included to not only win but get under 21 and he accomplished both with his time of 20.98, the only sub-21 of the field. He says it’s his first race since January, as he dusts off the competition cobwebs.
Gkolomeev for LA Current was impressive as the runner-up, improving upon his 4th place finish from his first match. Tonight he was 21.04 to edge out Aqua Centurion’s Szebasztian Szabo 21.19. Szabo is the shining light in an otherwise dull AQC thus far in this match.
WOMEN’S 50 FREE
LA Current captures a big-time 22 points in this women’s splash n’ dash, as teammates Beryl Gastaldello and Abbey Weitzeil tie in a time of 23.79. The mark represents Weitzeil’s lifetime best, setting the pair apart from the 3rd place finisher Michelle Coleman of Toronto.
Gastaldello and Weitzeil are within range of the top times of the season, which are held by match #1’s Sarah Sjostrom and her mark of 23.48, while Iron’s Ranomi Kromowidjojo registered 23.64 en route to her MVP title from match #2.
Coleman was super slow off the blocks, which hurt the Titan, demonstrating once again how every detail matters in these short course meter sprints.
Centurions did get on the board via Larissa Oliveira’s 5th place finish.
MEN’S 200 IM
Although the reigning world champion in this men’s 200 IM event, Daiya Seto, is absent from the Tokyo Frog Kings due to an ethics violation, his teammate and domestic rival got the job done. Kosuke Hagino punched a time of 1:53.01 to give the Kings their second win of the night and stake the team’s claim on this event.
Seto’s replacement, Tomoru Honda, also contributed to the Frog Kings’ point tally with 5.0 as the 4th place finisher.
Hagino’s win put the hammer down on LA Current’s Andrew Seliskar, who, along with Tmoe Hvas, led a 1-2 finish for the LA Current last week.
Heintz made it happen for 3rd for the Aqua Centurions, proving his worth again after having wracked up the win in this 200 IM in his first match.
WOMEN’S 200 IM
Japan’s IM queen established her presence right off the bat in this women’s 200 IM, beating the field by well over a second to take a big-time 12 points. She was disqualified in this event at the 2019 World Championships, so every opportunity to compete against an international field will only fuel her ambition to fare better at a home-based Olympic Games next year.
LA Current’s young gun Anastasia Gorbenko followed up her impressive performance from last week with a one-spot improvement to runner-up. She and teammate Helena Gasson contribute 11.0 points to the LA Currents cause.
Kathryn Greenslade of Aqua Centurions was jackpotted in this race after having finished 7th already here in the 200 backstroke.
MEN’S 50 BREAST
The Aqua Centurions raked in a heavily-needed win, just for a morale perspective at this point. Martinenghi got to the wall ahead of on-fire Anton McKee, who already earned his Toronto Titans paycheck with a surprise 200m breast win earlier.
The other newcomer team of the Tokyo Frog Kings demonstrated how their 50 breaststrokers are much better at the 10om and 200m, as they settled for 5th and 7th place here. That’s something to keep in mind as we enter the skins tomorrow and throughout the season.
WOMEN’S 50 BREAST
Doubling down on the 50m breaststroke for the Aqua Centurions was Martina Carraro, who grabbed 12.0 points for the team that has been struggling for the bulk of this match #3.
Her victory was also important with Arianna Castiglioni having already penalized the team for a 4.0 point no-show in the 200m breast. Castiglioni appeared here, tying Tokyo Frog King Miho Teramura for 4th, splitting 9 points between them.
LA Current’s Kierra Smith was a non-factor once again, producing the 8th place time behind Toronto’s Jocelyn Ulyett. Smith was 8th in her first match as well.
Cali Condors’ Lilly King is still untouchable in this event, owning the top time of the league by a mile in 28.86.
MEN’S 4X100 FREE RELAY
In a thrilling turn of events, suddenly the Centurions are 3-for-3, capturing the men’s 400 free relay top spot. The combo of Pedro Spajari, Marcelo Chierghini, Szabo and Alessandro Miressi held their own against the other squads to garner a massive 20 points in their bid to move up in the team rankings.
LA Current settled for the runner-up spot after winning this event in their first match, although their time here of 3:05.67 was about half a second quicker.
Szabo and Shields’ 46.26 splits were among the swiftest, while Gkolomeev was 45.96 on the 3rd leg for the LAC. He and Chierghini were the only sub-56 splitters of the race.
Comeback Canadian Brent Hayden, at 37 years of age, nailed an anchor of 46.85 to help give Toronto 12 points.
WOMEN’S 50 BACK
Gastaldello snags her 2nd win of the night, pairing this 50m back with her 50m free top performance earlier. She was slower than match #1 but moved up a spot from her 2nd place finish in that previous performance. This race was just shortly after Gastaldello’s 400 free relay outing, so the French woman is earning her paycheck today big-time.
Medieros of the Aqua Centurions placed just 5th earlier in her previous match but earns 7 points here in a time nearly .3 quicker to help continue the momentum from the squad’s string of three wins. She is the reigning world record holder in this event with a 25.67 from 2014.
MEN’S 50 BACK
Races of this velocity come down to the touch and two men got to the wall simultaneously in LA Condor’s Murphy and newcomer Shane Ryan of the Toronto Titans. Both racers collect 8.5 points as they beat the field, with Murphy doubling up on his win in this same sprint from match #1.
Takeshi Kawamoto surprised by earning 3rd here with 6.0 points for the Tokyo Frog Kings. Kawamoto was already in the water earlier today in his bread-and-butter 100 fly event where he finished 2nd. Look for improvements in this Japanese swimmer as he gains more experience in this 50m back event.
In a change-up from their first match, Hvas was the 2nd racer for LAC whereas Dylan Carter raced in match #1. Hvas finished 5th here for 4.0 points.
WOMEN’S 400 FREE
Leah Smith, one of the best freestyles in the United States right now, crushed the field to claim 15.0 points as a member of the Tokyo Frog Kings, moving from the LA Current she was a part of in season 1.
Smith was the only sub-2:00 swimmer at the halfway mark and continued to dominate to beat the next closest competitor, Toronto’s Anna Egorova, by well over 3 seconds.
Smith’s teammate, Chihiro Igarashi, rounded out the top 3 to add 6 points to Tokyo’s total and bring them within 10 points of leaders LA Current in today’s match.
Dumont finished 4th here for the Aqua Centurions after logging the top time of the entire ISL in her previous match (4:00.37).
MEN’S 400 FREE
Wrangling up his very first ISL win was Mykhailo Romanchuk, putting his Aqua Centurions team on top with a solid 9.0 points. He was battling with Toronto’s Aleksandr Krasnykh the entire way. Romanchuk was 2nd in his previous match and moved up when his team needed it most here on day 1 of this match #3.
Japan’s national record holder in this event, Katsuhiro Matsumoto, held on for 3rd to give Tokyo 6.0 points.
Danas Rapsys of Energy Standard is still the ultimate man to beat thus far, owning the quickest ISl time of season 2 in 3:39.36.
WOMEN’S 4X100 MEDLEY RELAY
LA Current’s Ali DeLoof delivered big time against the world champion Kylie Masse of the Toronto Titans in the lead-off leg. Coach David March changed things up from match #1, shifting once-lead-off Gastaldello to the fly leg, giving DeLoof a chance to shine and get the relay kickstarted.
Weitzeil split 51.66 on the final leg to seal the deal, although Toronto Titans’ Michelle Coleman came on strong with a sub-52 second split of her own in 51.90 to close the gap.
The medley relay is all-important, as the winner decides the skins stroke during tomorrow’s session, a series of quick-fire swims that can make or break a team’s standings.
MEN’S 4X100 MEDLEY RELAY
Even with two ties in individual events already this session, the men’s medley relay proved to be one of the most thrilling races of the ISL thus far, with the top spots determined by the back half.
Tokyo Frog Kings’ Ryosuke Irie, seemingly ageless at 30 yet putting up near-career-best times, led-off in 49.87 to get the edge on Murphy of LA Current. The Frog Kings’ breaststroke ace Yasuhiro Kosuki separated the new ISL squad just a tad further with a massive 56.39 leg to give them an over-half-a-second advantage.
However, LA Current’s Tom Shields and Maxime Rooney had no intention of going down quietly, with the former smashing a split of 48.76 and the latter hitting 46.20 to come out on top and make it 2-for-2 for heir team in selecting tomorrow’s skins discipline.
TEAM SCORES AFTER DAY ONE
- LA Current 262.5
- Tokyo Frog Kings 248.5
- Toronto Titans 208.5
- Aqua Centurions 156.5
Not really, his comment he made twice about how it was a surprise about Shane Ryan to come in 1st in the 50 Back, tying RM.
…but that was a surprise.
Also Shane Ryan is American. He was born in America, lived the vast majority of his life in America, swam for Penn State, and represented the US internationally before jumping to Ireland. So regardless, I’m not sure how much of an “American bias” that shows.
Murphy’s versatility across the 50-200back is unmatched by anyone else in the swimming world rn. There are not a lot of ppl who can kill a 50-100-200 of any stroke currently.
Absolutely agreed, especially in short course. Rylov seems to be better in long course and lack the top speed in SCM. Xu is not in the ISL
I won’t say Rylov lacks top speed in SCM, when he’s SC World Champion in both 50 and 200. He’s not at his top form right now tho.
Rylov has faster PBs in all 3 distances in SCM.
Rowdy generally pretty good on the commentary.
Vlad seems a little off his game.
Vlad always gets faster simply by racing. He will produce for sure. I wish there will be a skin race between vlad and caeleb
Does anyone have video of today’s races
this is non competitive for all but the top two teams. I think its going to be a really depressing place for the athletes on the lower tier teams in a short time.
Morozov on those relays is kinda bringing down the frog kings
He said before the meet that he is out of shape, couldn’t get pool access until a month ago.
So why have him anchor when you have Hagino who split 46.5 on the free relay or Matsumoto who has been 47 long course sitting on the bench?
They used Matsumoto in the 400 free only 10mins earlier and he probably couldn’t have made up the deficit anyway given he’d already gone 46.81 in the 4×100 free and that’s not enough.
I can’t believe Morisot got out split by a second on a 100 free.