Yesterday, the International Swimming League (ISL) announced full rosters for all ten teams in the league’s second season of competition. The rosters were revealed on the ISL website ahead of the press conference for Season 2, though there is still plenty of fluctuating going on with all of these rosters.
As it stands today, there are 28 swimmers hailing from Australia, comprised of 16 women and 12 men. The Aussies are spread across 8 teams, with only the Tokyo Frog Kings and Toronto Titans void of ‘down under’ representation.
Of the distribution of Aussies among the ISL squads for season 2, London Roar boasts the most with 9, while NY Breakers are right behind with 7.
Factoring in the existing coronavirus-related travel bans for Australian athletes and things may get dicey when competitions actually start to get underway. Not only are there interstate travel restrictions in place within Australia, but, the ban on all overseas travel stemming from the coronavirus pandemic is still in place.
SwimSwam has reached out to Swimming Australia to learn whether Australian athletes will be allowed to travel, but have not yet heard back.
And, it appears the ban will remain in place at least through December 2020. Per Executive Traveller, Australia’s extension of its ‘biosecurity emergency period’ enables the federal government to continue restrictions on overseas flights and cruise ships for an additional 3 months. As such, the order, which has been in place since March 28th will now continue through December 17th, per Health Minister Greg Hunt.
This travel ban would eliminate Aussies from traveling to any ISL-related event, including its compressed training camp and eventual competitions slated for mid-October to mid-November, in addition to the final for December.
So far, a few of those Australians have used their social media to promote their participation in season 2 of the ISL. That includes names like Bronte Campbell and Alex Graham of the London Roar. A few of the biggest names, including Cate Campbell and Cam McEvoy, have not yet, which could be read as an indication of uncertainty.
Minna Atherton, for her part, was included as part of a montage where one ‘star’ representing each team gave a pre-recorded answer to a question about the ISL season in Wednesday’s video announcement live stream.
Per the Australian government, the only exemptions for international travel granted for Australian citizens are as follows:
- your travel is as part of the response to the COVID-19 outbreak, including the provision of aid
- your travel is essential for the conduct of critical industries and business (including export and import industries)
- you are travelling to receive urgent medical treatment that is not available in Australia
- you are travelling on urgent and unavoidable personal business
- you are travelling on compassionate or humanitarian grounds
- your travel is in the national interest.
Below is the lineup of Aussie swimmers per ISL team as of Thursday, September 10th:
Energy Standard:
London Roar:
- Minna Atherton
- Holly Barratt
- Bronte Campbell
- Cate Campbell
- Kyle Chalmers
- Alex Graham
- Emma McKeon
- Matthew Wilson
- Elijah Winnington
Iron:
- Jessica Hansen
Aqua Centurions:
- Maddie Groves
- Travis Mahoney
Cali Condors:
- Jack Cartwright
- Meg Harris
- Mitch Larkin
- Clyde Lewis
- Ariarne Titmus
LA Current:
- Madi Wilson
DC Trident:
- Tristan Hollard
- Leiston Pickett
NY Breakers:
- Meg Bailey
- Abbey Harkin
- Cameron McEvoy
- Mollie O’Callaghan
- Mikkayla Sheridan
- Brendon Smith
- Matthew Temple
Isn’t the Aussie Cricket team in the UK at the moment??
Yes
21 flew out on a Charter flight . They will be a bubble like environment e.g. hotels are on site at grounds , no spectators . 11 & some already overseas will play in Dubai for the re located Indian league. 9 will be returning in Sept which is less of a burden that 2 9 swimmers.
Unknown quarantine arrange e ments but but Cricket Australia is trying to get them a bio secure training venue & Q hotel deal .As Perth has no cases it might be the best bet .
Cricket Australia is desperately needing India to tour 2021 & must keep up their touring .So it is the national interest .
I don’t know where you got that list of exemptions from but here’s the list from the webpage where you apply for an exemption:
I think elite athletes have been getting exemptions under the final category which is quite vague.
For extra context Chloe McCardel was granted an exemption to swim the English Channel under the “travel in the national interest” criteria. Would think if she’s allowed to go to swim the channel then the Aussie swim stars would be allowed to go to ISL.
This is obviously a rumor, so take it with a grain of salt, but I think the real issue seems to be Swimming Australia not wanting/restricting them to travel
Female pro cyclists, who return to/were still in AUS when borders closed, were granted clearance to return to Europe to compete in major races a few months back. They clearly had the backing of their national body, as well as their employers, behind their submission.
However, drawing comparisons may be a double edged sword. Whilst womens pro racing does not yet have the level of prestige of men’s elite (ie Grand Tours, one day classics); it is still a more “established” entity than ISL
EU isn’t allowing Americans yet the teams are going to Hungary. Either the big guy is bribing someone or Hungary is making exceptions? (Croatia is the only EU that is allowing Americans at this time).
Hungary seems like the kind of place that is ok with granting exceptions. Hungary and the EU are already fighting over Hungary’s policies anyway:
https://euobserver.com/coronavirus/149295
Ever heard about politics and negotiation?
Although the whole covid situation seem like a full plate for the extreme left nationalists growing on some countries like Hungary itself.