2020 International Swimming League – Match 7
- Thursday, November 5th: 10AM – 12 noon Local Time (3AM-5AM U.S. Central Time, 6PM – 8PM J+1 Japan)
- Friday, November 6th: 10Am – 12 noon Local Time (3AM-5AM U.S. Central Time, 6PM – 8PM J+1 Japan)
- Duna Arena – Budapest, Hungary
- Short Course Meters (SCM) Format
- ISL Technical Handbook
- 2020 ISL Scoring Format
- 2020 ISL Prize Money and Bonuses
- How to Watch
- Omega Results
- Start Lists Day 1
- Full Results Day 1
- 4 Big Things From Day 1
- Teams: Energy Standard/DC Trident/Toronto Titans/Iron
Match 7 will be the deciding factor on whether or not DC Trident has the chance to advance to the semifinals. All they need to do is beat one team here to have a shot, and with the likes of Amy Bilquist, Zach Apple, and Jacob Pebley it is within their grasp.
We will also see races from Energy Standard’s Sarah Sjostrom, last year’s ISL league MVP, who did not compete in match 6 due to injury.
You can read a full preview of this match here.
Recap: Annika Johnson, Live Analysis: Ben Dornan
Women’s 100 Butterfly
Pulling off her second win of the season, Anastasiya Shkrudai was quick enough to take the victory, as she did in match 4. DC didn’t have the start to the meet the needed, getting both swims in the event jackpotted.
Louise Hansson for Toronto was within grasp of her second victory, ultimately out touching Energy Standard’s Madeline Banic at the very end to take second place. Banic’s third place finish made Energy Standard the top finishers in this event. Rebecca Smith improved upon her match 6 time by half a second, to finish fourth for the Titans, allowing them to go 2-4.
Men’s 100 Butterfly
As the second highest rated man in the event this year, Chad le Clos clinched his second victory of the season in the 100 fly here. Following Shkurdai’s lead, le Clos was quick enough to jackpot three of the bottom swimmers including teammate Kregor Zirk, along with Toronto’s Finlay Knox and DC’s Abrahm Devine.
In the race for second place, Iron came out on top in this event as they were 2nd and 4th from Nicholas Santos and Ramon Klenz, respectively. Shane Ryan, a traditional backstroker, delivered for Toronto and performed the best he has in his third 100 fly this season, finishing third here for 6 points.
Women’s 200 Backstroke
Emily Seebohm was up against arguably the toughest 200 backstroke field yet this season, going up against Amy Bilquist and Lisa Bratton who have each won the event twice this season so far. Seebohm made the most of it and became a double winner herself, taking the top spot in the event.
Seebohm is one of few Australians to make it to the ISL this year and certainly made the most of it with this swim, jackpotting three swimmers and giving her team 15 points. Going 2-3 was Toronto, yield 7 points from Bratton and 6 from Kylie Masse for a total of 13. Former double winner Bilquist scored DC’s only points with 5, while Daria Zevina scored 4 for Iron.
Men’s 200 Backstroke
Energy Standard is not playing around this morning. With this win from Evgeny Rylov, they have won the first four events, having jackpotted swimmers in three of them. Rylov here was a little bit slower than he has been this season but it was enough for him to win 9 points for the win and to steal a few points form Iron’s Robert Glinta and DC’s Mohamed Samy. Kliment Kolesnikov almost made it 1-2 for Energy Standard but made just missed out, placing third for 6 points.
Toronto and DC won second-place team points here, with Jacob Pebley’s second place 7 points tying Toronto’s fifth and sixth place 7 point total.
Women’s 200 Breaststroke
Kelsey Wog decided that it was time for Toronto to take a win this morning as she raced her way to a 2:17.13 victory. The swim maintains her spot as second fastest performer this season, behind only Lilly King. She also remains undefeated this season with her third win in the event. Wog notched an important 15 points here, jackpotting one swimmer from each other team.
Teammate Jocelyn Ulyett helped Wog out here, coming in third to bring the team total up to 21 points. After winning the first four events this morning, Energy Standard actually lost this event, with only Breeja Larson scoring 4 points for the team.
Men’s 200 Breaststroke
Acting once again as a breaststroke weapon for the Toronto Titans, Anton McKee picked up his second 200 breast win this season. McKee was a little slower that his 2:01.7 from Match 2, but he was still fast enough to give Toronto their second event win in a row this morning. McKee received 12 points as he jackpotted one swimmer each from Iron and DC. The double win for Toronto is just what they needed to set an early lead ahead of Iron and DC.
Erik Persson of Toronto allowed his team to go 1-2 and he got his top finish of the season so far. Energy Standard actually came second in the event from 5th and 6th with 7 points.
Points Update
- Toronto Titans – 78 points
- Energy Standard – 77 points
- Iron – 38 points
- DC Trident – 28 points
Women’s 4×100 Freestyle Relay
In an expected victory, Energy Standard continue their Sjostrom-less dominance this morning, going 1-3 in the relay. The winning relay included the field’s only sub-52 swimmer in the form of Siobhan Haughey’s 51.76. Solid efforts from Pernille Blume, Banic and Femke Heemskerk result in three sub 53 swims for them, to give Energy Stanard the win with a 3:29.50. Without jackpotting any teams here, Energy still won the event with a solid 30-point win, coming from a combined first and third.
Energy’s only real threat in this event came from Toronto. Michelle Coleman was the second fastest in the field, leading the Titans with a 52.09 to a second-place finish. Toronto’s 2-6 finsih, however, exposes a bit of a weakness in freestyle depth that they have felt on the freestyle relay before.
Men’s 50 Freestyle
It was all Florent Manaudou once again here as he sailed his way to his third win this season. He was slower than he’s been in either individual 50 free that he’s swam so far but it didn’t matter too much as he still won the event and managed to jackpot his teammate Simonas Bilis and Toronto’s Sergey Fesikov to give Manaudou 12 points.
Despite Manaudou’s effort, Iron was able to tie them for the win in the event. Maxim Lobanovszkij and Thom de Boer went 2-5, summing 12 points between them to beat DC and Toronto in the event.
Brent Hayden made his debut in the event following teammates Blake Pieroni and Michael Chadwick’s disappointing swims in Toronto’s first two meets. He was able to give the Titans their top finish thus far in the season with a 4-point yielding fifth place.
Women’s 50 Freestyle
You would never know that Sjostrom had been out with a back injury just mere days ago. Sjostrom rocketed to a 23.41 victory and a 12-point jackpot in the women’s 50 free. Not only did she win, but the sprint ace was able to improve upon her 23.48 time from match 1.
She just beat rival Ranomi Kromowidjojo, who finished in second with a 23.55. Heemskerk made it 1-3 for Energy Standard, allowing them to win the event with 18 points.
Points Update
- Energy Standard – 137 points
- Toronto Titans – 105 points
- Iron – 70 points
- DC Trident – 53 points
Men’s 200 IM
Iron finally got the win they were waiting for this morning as Leonardo Santos and Yakov Toumarkin went 1-2 in the 200 IM. With a modest 10-point jackpot, Santos took top points and Toumarkin followed with 7, totaling 17 points for Iron.
Abrahm Devine repeated his Match 5 third place finish but was a little bit slower than he’s been. Finaly Finlay Knox from Toronto has become a solid asset for the Titans, securing his second fourth place finish in the event, giving his team 5 points.
Women’s 200 IM
Iron Lady Katinka Hosszu didn’t quite have what it takes to pick up her first 200 IM win this season. Instead, Kelsey Wog picked up her second victory of the day, surging to a 2:06.69 victory. Wog has had an incredible morning thus far considering she won the 200 breast only a few moments ago. Wog’s teammate Tessa Ciepulcha was second, just as she was in Match 6, adding to Toronto’s 17 point total.
Hosszu was relegated to third place and picked up 6 points for her Iron. Her and Maria Ugolkova picked up 8 points together, beating out both DC who scored 7 and Energy Standard who scored 5.
Men’s 50 Breaststroke
Women’s 50 Breaststroke
In a bit of an upset, Energy Standard’s 50 breaststroke star Benedetta Pilato was unable to repeat as winner in the 50 breast. Pilato was beaten by Iron’s Ida Hulkko who picked up her first win in the event so far. Hulkko has lost to both undefeated 50 breaststrokers so far in Lilly King and Alia Atkinson and was able to breakthrough here with a 29.33 effort.
Pilato was right behind Hulkko as she came in second with a 29.39. Iron, however, scored a total of 18 points as Hulkko’s teammate Jenna Laukkanen was third.
DC and Toronto each suffered one jackpotting each in the event, scoring only 5 and 4 points, respectively.
Men’s 4×100 Freestyle Relay
Kliment Kolesnikov anchored Energy Standard’s 5th place relay with the fastest relay split in the field by far, touching the wall at 45.35.
The Toronto Titans picked up their first win in the men’s 4×100 freestyle relay as Kisil, Chadwick, Pieroni, and Hayden sailed to a 3:06.23, more than a second ahead of second place Energy Standard.
Included in Toronto’s winning relay was a solid sub-46 split from Blake Pieroni. Swimming a 45.90, he was beaten only by Kolesnikov and DC’s Zach Apple with a 45.81. The win by Toronto could bode well for their performance in the 100-freestyle tomorrow.
Despite their win race win, Toronto wasn’t able to win the overall event as their second team finished in eighth. The 1-8 finish yielded Toronto 20 points total, not enough to beat Energy Standard’s 2-5, 22 point finish.
DC and Iron were 3rd with 18 and 4th with 16, respectively.
Points Update
- Energy Standard – 191 points
- Iron – 153 points
- Toronto Titans – 151 points
- DC Trident – 90 points
Women’s 50 Backstroke
Men’s 50 Backstroke
Shane Ryan has already been a big part of Toronto’s backstroke strength this season and has proven it yet again with this 50-backstroke victory. Ryan improved by 0.12 second from Match 6, getting down to a 22.86 from 22.96. Ryan’s victory included a jackpotting of Energy Standard’s Matt Grevers. Sergey Fesikov was seventh for Toronto adding to Ryan’s 10 for a Titan total of 12.
Iron actually tied Toronto for the victory as they went 2-4 with Robert Glinta and Guilherme Basseto taking 7 and 5 event points, respectively, totalling 12 points. DC was third from 5th and 6th, scoring 7 points total to beat out Energy Standard’s 6 points from Evgeny Rylov.
Women’s 400 Freestyle
Siobhan Haughey opened up the race with a 1:59.48; the only sub-2:00 split in the field. With the early lead, Haughey maintained her speed and got to the wall in a 4:00.58, to take the win and a to jackpot DC’s Kathrin Demler. Energy Standard’s Jakabos was fourth and helped Haughey bring Energy Standard’s point total to 14.
Haughey is proving to be a force in this event, a fact made more impressive by the fact that her first time swimming it in short course meters was just weeks ago at Match 1.
Toronto was second in the event going 2-5 to score 13 points total. Iron followed with 9 points from 3rd and 6th.
Men’s 400 Freestyle
In an interesting finish, Danas Rapsys’ biggest threat in this event was: Danas Rapsys. Gaining a decisive lead throughout the race, Rapsys touched in a 3:08.29 at the 350 and stopped at the wall, thinking the race had ended.
After realizing his mistake, Rapsys pushed off to finish the race but had lost his significant lead and was nearly overtaken by DC’s Zane Grothe. Grothe’s closing split of 26.57 was almost enough to defeat Rapsys who’s closing split was a 32.54 (including time spent at the wall). Ultimately though, Rapsys was first and still managed to jackpot Iron’s Santos to earn 10 points total. Rapsys’ teammate Kregor Zirk was 5th and brought the team total to 14.
Grothe and Stjepanovic from DC were able to score 2nd and 3rd place points, earning 13 points. Toronto managed to outscore Iron here with 8 points to Iron’s 2.
Points Update
- Energy Standard – 236 points
- Toronto Titans – 193 points
- Iron – 185 points
- DC Trident – 117 points
Women’s 4×100 Medley Relay
Following a loss to Toronto at Match 6, Energy Standard came back, with recent returnee Sjostrom to claim the 4×100 medley win along with the right to pick the women’s skins stroke. Faced with a difficult decision, the only thing that is clear so far is that they will not pick backstroke.
Kylie Masse’s dominance will prevent that choice by Energy Standard and it’ll be down to free, fly or back. Breaststroke may have gotten less enticing considering Pilato’s loss in the 50 breast this morning. Fly could be a solid choice, however, considering Sjostrom’s return and Shkurdai and Banic’s recent sprint fly prowess. Match 6 winner Toronto Titans followed in second place and were followed by Energy Standard’s second team in third for a total of 30 points. Toronto’s second place team was joined by their seventh, meaning they totalled 18 points.
Iron was third, with a 14 point total and DC wound up last with 12.
Men’s 4×100 Medley Relay
In the final event of the day, the unsurprising victory went to Energy Standard’s men’s 4×100 medley team. Chad le Clos, swimming the fly leg was a big part of this win, delivering the fastest split in the field and only sub-50 split with a 49.27. Despite closing the race out successfully and winning the event, Manaudou’s 47.09 freestyle leg was slower than that on the 2nd through 6th teams. Energy Standard scored a total of 34 points to win the event.
It seems likely that Energy Standard will choose freestyle as the skins stroke considering Manaudou’s stellar performance at Match 6.
For third place, Toronto had a solid swim including Blake Pieroni’s 45.96 freestyle split which was the only one under 46. Toronto’s third place relay and sixth place relays combined to give them second place 18 points.
Iron ended up DQing one of their relays, finishing with only 10 points in the event. DCs two team narrowly outscored them by getting 12 points from 5th and 7th.
Total Points After Day 1
Sakci can swim 46.8 on 100 m free , damn
2017 – yes. Any other year, no
Also one of the least accurate things he has said, which is saying a lot.
I honestly don’t know what the point of Finnerty coming to the ISL if this is the kind of form he is on. 2:11.99 is a really poor showing.
He did that all of last season till the final meet where he went 2:02. He’s just a different breed when he’s rested
Rapsys doing a broken 400 and still winning 😉
No doubt Sjostrom wouldn’t be impressed but I reckon ENS might lighten her schedule from here on given the anchor split she dropped in the medley relay. She might even be able to beat Ranomi in skins with a lighter schedule.
Among the primary goals of Jackpot points was to eliminate what the league viewed as “unprofessional” swims by the losers.
They could make better use of cut off times with a stiffer penalty to achieve that goal and then offer points for records instead of jackpots.
But times don’t matter in ISL …