Additional Aussie Big Guns Added To ISL London Line-up

Earlier this month we reported how a London-based International Swimming League (ISL) team was announced, with British Olympic Champion Adam Peaty  identified as a team leader along with fellow Brit James Guy and Australians Cate Campbell, Bronte Campbell, Kyle Chalmers, Emma McKeon.

The team has become increasingly even more stacked since the original announcement, with the London squad quickly becoming a veritable ‘who’s who’ of Australian elite swimming. Below are additional team members named to the ISL London team within the past week:

• Elijah Winnington – 18-year-old Bond swimmer Winnington had a breakthrough year in 2018, starting with a Commonwealth Games gold medal as a member of Australia’s 4x200m freestyle relay. The Richard Scarce-trained freestyle ace concluded the year with two World Junior Records, one in short course and one in long course. The former came in the men’s 400m freestyle, where he nabbed a mark of 3:39.17 at the Australian Short Course Championships in October. His LCM WJR came in the 200m free while competing at the Queensland Championships in December. His time of 1:46.14 ranked him 12th in the world for 2018.
• Minna Atherton – Reigning World Junior Record holder in the women’s 50m back, Atherton is still only 18 years of age with a full career ahead of her. After a quiet set of years, the teen has proven she’s still on the rise, claiming bronze in the 100m backstroke at last year’s Short Course World Championships. She also took bronze as a member of the 4x50m free and 4x200m free relays. Atherton also had a successful World Cup run last year, taking 2 silvers in Singapore, a gold in Tokyo and 2 golds in Beijing.
• Holly Barratt – Barratt defies age, still swimming elite times at 31 years old. Most recently at the Short Course World Championships, Barratt made it to 3 individual finals, finishing with 2 individual medals. Barratt won bronze in the 50m back in 26.04 and silver in the 50m fly in 24.80.
• Jess Hansen –Nunawading’s breaststroking ace Hansen is also a Short Course World Championships medalist, having taken bronze in the 100m breast last year in Hangzhou. That ended her year on a high note, after not performing up to her own standards at the Commonwealth Games, where her highest finish was 5th in the 50m breast. Spending some time with Indiana University’s Lilly King did Hansen some good, as she’s been putting up PB’s ever since. She’s already competed this year at the Victorian Open where she entered the world rankings in the 100m breaststroke.
• Taylor McKeown – An Olympic finalist in the women’s 200m breast and relay silver medalist, McKeown settled for 5th at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in her signature event. She is the elder sister of Kaylee McKeown, winner of Youth Olympic Games gold last year. Their father, Sholto McKeown, was diagnosed with glioblastoma, a form of brain cancer, in June of 2018.
• Alex Graham – A 23-year-old teammate of Winnington, Graham took gold as a member of the Australian men’s 4x200m freestyle relay at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. Later last year, Graham beat out the likes of China’s Ji Xinjie and Russia’s Mikhail Vekovishchev to take bronze in the individual 200m freestyle race. Graham was recognized as 2018’s Sportsman of the Year by Bond University.

The ISL teams aren’t traditional teams that would train together in one location, so this doesn’t mean the Australians will be moving to Great Britain. But the rosters will come together for various events next fall. The London team will host its ISL meet on November 23-24 and has confirmed the attendance of several other big-name swimmers, though they aren’t necessarily a part of the London club.

The British team will be run by general manager Rob Woodhouse, Australian Olympic medalist and current sports agent.

The ISL’s inaugural season is aiming for 8 clubs across the world: 4 in Europe and 4 in the United States.