2021 International Swimming League – Match 6, Day 1: Live Recap

2021 INTERNATIONAL SWIMMING LEAGUE – SEASON 3, MATCH 6

• Saturday, September 11 – Sunday, September 12
• 12:00 pm – 2:00 pm EST (6:00 pm – 8:00 pm Local Time)
• Piscina Felice Scandone, Naples, Italy
• Short Course Meters (25m – SCM) Format
• ISL Season 3 Schedules, Start Times, & More
• All Ten 2021 ISL Team Rosters
• Teams Competing: Cali Condors, London Roar, Tokyo Frog Kings, Aqua Centurions
• Omega Live Results
• Match 6 Preview

Match six here in Naples is set to feature the No. 2-ranked Cali Condors go against the No. 5 Aqua Centurions, No. 7 London Roar, and No. 9 Tokyo Frog Kings. The Condors enter this meet with two match victories while London and Tokyo dive in for their second matches of the season. Aqua enters this meet with two previous third-place finishes.

• Click here for current club season points as of match five.

The London Roar are now equipped with powerhouse sprinters Kyle Chalmers, Freya Anderson, and the Emma McKeon. Chalmers and Anderson will certainly wreck havoc in the relays while McKeon will make her season debut in the 100 fly and 50 free individually.

Keep an eye on the men’s 200 IM, where Cali Condor Caeleb Dressel will swim the event for the first time in the SCM pool. In the men’s 50 free, Vlad Morozov will make his season 3 debut.

DAY 1 START LISTS

Lane Assignments:

• Lanes 1&2: Tokyo Frog Kings (TOK)
• Lanes 3&4: Cali Condors (CAC)
• Lanes 5&6: London Roar (LON)
• Lanes 7&8: Aqua Centurions (AQC)

WOMEN’S 100 BUTTERFLY

The top three-ranked 100 flyers went head-to-head in this event to kick off the session. London’s Emma McKeon had a 0.39s advantage over Cali’s Kelsi Dahlia on the first 50. But Dahlia came charging home on the last 25 to surge past McKeon for a 15-point win at 55.40. McKeon took second in her ISL season three debut race at 55.64.

Aqua’s Elena di Liddo swam 56.39 for third-place points.

MEN’S 100 BUTTERFLY

The top three swimmers at the halfway point were separated by 0.05s, that is until Cali’s Caeleb Dressel picked up his tempo on the third 25. The Condor took the win with a dominant swim of 48.71, earning 12 points. Teammate Marcin Cieslak placed third at 50.19 for six points.

London’s Vini Lanza hit 50.01 for the seven-point pick-up while Tokyo’s Takeshi Kawamoto placed fourth at 50.30, worth five points.

WOMEN’S 200 BACKSTROKE

London’s Minna Atherton had a half-second edge over Cali’s Beata Nelson at the halfway point of this race. Nelson then flexed her strong underwaters over Atherton on the final 50. But it was Atherton who had the faster finishing stroke to edge out Nelson for the 19-point win by 0.18s, 2:01.40 to 2:01.58.

Tokyo’s Gabby DeLoof snuck in 2:04.75 for third place while Katie Shanahan propelled London’s point pick-up to 24 total.

MEN’S 200 BACKSTROKE

London’s Christian Diener led on the field throughout the first 150 of this race until teammate Luke Greenbank gained on the field to take the 10-point win at 1:50.36. Diener clocked in 1:50.98 for a London 1-3 finish, worth 16 points.

Picking up second-place points for Tokyo was Grigory Tarasevich at 1:50.79. Condor Coleman Stewart hit 1:51.85 for fourth place.

WOMEN’S 200 BREASTSTROKE

Cali’s Lilly King stayed strong throughout the entirety of this race, splitting 1:05.18 at the 100-mark and never letting go of her lead. King touched the wall at 2:16.83 to nab 12 points total. London’s Annie Lazor made her move on the third 50 to snag second-place points at 2:20.31.

Aqua’s Martina Carraro clocked 2:21.22 for the six-point pick-up.

MEN’S 200 BREASTSTROKE

Tokyo’s Daiya Seto led the field at the halfway point of the men’s 200 breast followed by Cali’s Kevin Cordes. Yet Tokyo’s Yasuhiro Koseki caught the wave of Seto to pass up Cordes at the 150-mark. Thought Condor Nic Fink whipped out his signature finishing speed, splitting 30.99 on the final 50, it was Seto who took the event win at 2:02.86.

Fink was able to surge past Koseki for second place by a full second, 2:03.05 to 2:04.05. Aqua’s Arno Kamminga snuck in for fourth place at 2:04.36 while Cordes faded to fifth at 2:04.79.

The London Roar finished 6-8 in this event, only managing 4 total points.

Team Scores Update

1. Cali Condors, 76.0
2. London Roar, 75.0
3. Tokyo Frog Kings, 41.0
4. Aqua Centurions, 27.0

WOMEN’S 4 X 100 FREESTYLE RELAY

The Cali Condors walked away with a jackpot win in this relay event, featuring powering legs from Erika Brown (52.12) and Beata Nelson (52.04) to secure 24 points. Holding on for the 14 second-place relay points with an all sub-53 relay were the Aqua Centurions. While the Roar’s top relay placed third, their secondary relay finished in 8th place and lost two points. The team only scored 10 points from this event.

Team Scores Update – After Session 1

1. Cali Condors, 108.0
2. London Roar, 85.0
3. Tokyo Frog Kings, 57.0
4. Aqua Centurions, 39.0

MEN’S 50 FREESTYLE

No Dressel, no problem for the Condors in the men’s 50 free as Justin Ress topped this event for the 9-point win at 21.06, just 0.11s off his lifetime best of 20.95 from season two. Tokyo’s Vlad Morozov pushed the field off the start, but wound up second at 21.23. Taking third for a Cali 1-3 finish was Jesse Puts at 21.30 his first individual 50 free of the season.

WOMEN’S 50 FREESTYLE

Olympic event champion Emma McKeon reeled in 10 easy points for London with her top 50 free time of 23.60, the second-fastest time in the league this season. Kim Busch finished 7th, bumping up the Roar’s event points to 12.

Erika Brown and Olivia Smoliga swam 24.22/24.27 respectively to go a 2-3 finish for Cali, an 11-point pick-up.

MEN’S 200 IM

Tokyo’s Daiya Seto led on the field at the 100-meter mark following a 27.98 back split. After the breaststroke leg, Cali’s Caeleb Dressel turned on the jets, splitting 25.72 to challenge Seto. At the finish, Seto was able to hold off Dressel by two one-hundredths for the 12-point win, 1:51.12 to 1:51.14.

Dressel’s time now makes him the No. 2 US performer all-time and the No. 6 performer in World history.

Snagging third-place points for London was Duncan Scott, clocking in a 1:52.95 to run down Aqua’s Chase Kalisz (1:53.28).

WOMEN’S 200 IM

Tokyo’s Yui Ohashi pulled into the lead on the backstroke leg of the women’s 200 IM and continued to lead from the outside lane. Into the freestyle leg, London’s Sydney Pickrem tried to gained on Cali’s Beata Nelson.

At the finish, it was Ohashi who held off Nelson by 0.17s for the win, 2:06.51 to 2:06.68. Pickrem settled for third at 2:06.86.

MEN’S 50 BREASTSTROKE

The top three finishers in the men’s 50 breast were separated by 0.11s while the top two finisher were separated by 0.02s. Taking his third 50 breast win of the season was Aqua’s Nicolo Martinenghi, picking up 12 points. Teammate Fabio Scozzoli held off Cali’s Nic Fink by 0.09s for second place, 25.88 to 25.97.

Finishing 4-5 for Tokyo were Alessandro Pinzuti (26.11) and Yasuhiro Koseki (26.21).

WOMEN’S 50 BREASTSTROKE

Building off of Martinenghi’s momentum to take another 50 breast win for the Centurions was Arianna Castiglioni, who took out Cali’s Lilly King for the 12-point win, 29.46 to 29.62. Placing third for a Condor 1-3 finish was Molly Hannis at 29.75.

Also breaking 30 seconds for fourth place was London’s Alia Atkinson, touching the wall at 29.82.

MEN’S 4 X 100 FREESTYLE RELAY

Kyle Chalmers took out his lead-off leg for London in 21.97, giving them a full second head-start into the remaining legs with his swim of 45.69. That is now the second-fastest men’s 100 free this season. London took a big 38-point pick-up with the fastest 4×100 free relay time by a full second this season at 3:05.05. The Tokyo Frog Kings placed second at 3:07.34 while the Aqua Centurions snagged third place at 3:07.48.

The Cali Condors finished fourth in this event at 3:08.10. Justin Ress split a blistering 45.89 for the Condors while Caeleb Dressel anchored in an out-of-character 47.26.

Team Scores Update – After Session 2

1. Cali Condors, 181.0
2. London Roar, 168.0
3. Tokyo Frog Kings, 127.0
4. Aqua Centurions, 107.0

WOMEN’S 50 BACKSTROKE

Event world record-holder Kira Toussaint controlled the women’s 50 back, clocking in 26.11 to snag 9 points for the Roar. Placing second by a tenth was Cali’s Olivia Smoliga over Aqua’s Holly Barratt, 26.40 to 26.50.

Cali’s Sherridon Dressel placed fourth at 26.63, touching out London’s Minna Atherton (26.67) by 0.04s.

MEN’S 50 BACKSTROKE

Out like a rocket off the only turn of the race, London’s Guilherme Guido held off Cali’s Coleman Stewart by 0.32s for the big 19-point win, 22.60 to 22.92. Tokyo’s Takeski Kawamoto placed third at 23.42, just one one-hundredth ahead of London’s Christian Diener (23.43).

London picked up 24 points to Cali’s 7 points in this event. The Roar now sits five points ahead of the Condors for the lead in the team standings.

Team Scores Update

1. London Roar, 205.0
2. Cali Condors, 200.0
3. Tokyo Frog Kings, 136.0
4. Aqua Centurions, 116.0

WOMEN’S 400 FREESTYLE

Chihiro Igarashi led at the 100-mark for checkpoint bonus points while teammate Paige Madden accelerated to take the finishing jackpot bonus points for the win. Madden clocked in a 4:02.84 to pick up 12 points total. While Igarashi placed fourth at 4:05.73, she earned 11 points with her checkpoint bonus, totaling 23 points for the Frog Kings.

Aqua finished 2-3 in this event, courtesy of Laura Taylor (4:04.64) and Martina Rita Caramignoli (4:04.65).

Team Scores Update:

1. London Roar, 213.0
2. Cali Condors, 204.0
3. Tokyo Frog Kings, 159.0
4. Aqua Centurions, 133.0

MEN’S 400 FREESTYLE

The London Roar men followed a similar strategy to the Tokyo Frog Kings. Zac Incerti led at the 100-mark to take the six checkpoint bonus points. Teammate Duncan Scott was running second at the 100-mark before pulling away from the rest of the field alongside Aqua’s Matteo Ciampi. At the finish, Scott held off Ciampi for the win, 3:41.14 to 3:41.78. Tokyo’s Daniil Pasynkov and Cali’s Townley Haas tied at the finish at 3:44.62, but Pasynkov picked up 2.5 more points than Haas.

Incerti finished in seventh place to just avoid getting jackpotted, reeling in 8 points for the Roar.

Team Scores Update:

1. London Roar, 235.0
2. Cali Condors, 209.5
3. Tokyo Frog Kings, 171.0
4. Aqua Centurions, 145.5

WOMEN’S 4 X 100 MEDLEY RELAY

Cali’s Beata Nelson and London’s Kira Toussaint both led off their relays in a 56.52 for the early advantage. As Lilly King kept the Condors in the lead with her 1:03.67 breast split, Aqua’s Arianna Castiglioni blasted 1:03.33 to move the Centurions from sixth to third into the butterfly leg. Kelsi Dahlia split 55.50 on her fly leg to maintain the Condors’ lead while Emma McKeon put London from fourth to second with her 55.13 leg.

The Cali Condors took another women’s 4×100 medley relay win as Erika Brown anchored in a 52.01. Meanwhile, Aqua’s Federica Pellegrini split 52.09 to put the Centurions from ahead of London for second place.

The Tokyo Frog Kings finished 7-8 and only picked up 4 points. Aqua now sits behind Tokyo by 9.5 points in the team standings.

Team Scores Update:

1. London Roar, 255.0
2. Cali Condors, 239.5
3. Tokyo Frog Kings, 175.0
4. Aqua Centurions, 165.5

MEN’S 4 X 100 MEDLEY RELAY

London’s Guilherme Guido faced off against Cali’s Coleman Stewart again leading off the 4×100 medley relays. Guido put London into the lead over Cali with his 100 back leg of 49.45 to Stewart’s 49.88. Then, Condor Nic Fink put up the fastest breast split of 56.43 to further Cali ahead of London. As Cali’s Caeleb Dressel split 49.24, Tokyo’s Takeski Kawamoto split 49.19 to keep the Frog Kings in second place heading into the freestyle.

Justin Ress anchored Cali in a 45.74 to give the Condors a 24-point relay win. Despite spooking everyone with a barely legal exchange time of -0.03s, Kyle Chalmers ripped a monster 45.24 to pass Tokyo and give the Roar 14 second-place points. Tokyo placed third, but their seventh-place “B” relay wound up losing jackpot points and only scored 12 relay points total.

Women’s Skins Selection

• London Roar: eliminates Breast
• Aqua Centurions: eliminates Free
• Cali Condors: chooses Fly

Men’s Skins Selection

• Aqua Centurions: eliminates Back
• London Roar: eliminates Breast
• Cali Condors: chooses Free

Team Scores After Day One

1. London Roar, 277.0
2. Cali Condors, 263.5
3. Tokyo Frog Kings, 187.0
4. Aqua Centurions, 181.5