2019 INTERNATIONAL SWIMMING LEAGUE – EUROPEAN DERBY
- Saturday, November 23 – Sunday, November 24, 2019
- 5:00-7:00 PM Local Time (12:00 noon – 2:00 PM, U.S. Eastern Time)
- London Aquatics Centre – London, England
- Short Course Meters (SCM) format
- European franchises: Aqua Centurions, Energy Standard, Iron, London Roar
- Start Lists
- Day 1 Complete Results (with Corrected MVP Standings)
- Day 2 Complete Results
The 4 teams that will qualify for the 2019 International Swimming League finale in Las Vegas, Nevada are now set in stone. With the Derby meets scheduled the last 2 weekends (one between the 4 American teams in Maryland, and this week between the 4 European teams in London), there were some ‘miracle’ scenarios that could have brought teams back into contention, but none of those scenarios were really even close to happening.
Energy Standard comes away from the regular season as the only undefeated team after knocking off the London Roar this weekend in the European Derby. After the first 4 weeks of competition, the Roar were certainly the ‘peoples’ favorite to win the league, and they may still be with some big names like Kyle Chalmers due to return to the lineup for Las Vegas.
But one thing that must be acknowledged is this: Energy Standard are better at playing this game than any other team in the league. They’ve raced in a similar format at the Energy for Swim meet the last few years, they’ve had those opportunities to get to know their strengths and weaknesses with the same core group of athletes throughout those meets, they know how to manage rest and who needs managed rest. They have a head start on what other teams are catching up on, but maybe underrated to start: melding a bunch of athletes from different languages, countries, and cultural backgrounds into one cohesive team willing to sell-out for the unit as greater than themselves. Much of Energy Standard’s team trains together, so their core is strong and has a leadership structure in place already.
Will they be able to keep that magic going in the Las Vegas finale? We’ll have a lot more breakdowns between now and then, but both team will bring reinforcements. Energy Standard gets Daiya Seto, who is doing some unreal things in Japan this fall, while London Roar has available to them Kyle Chalmers, Cam McEvoy, Elijah Winnington, and Mireia Belmonte.
But whatever your projections show, add a few ‘bonus’ points on to Energy Standards roster, just for sake of being the masters of this domain in season 1 of the ISL.
Final European Derby Standings:
- Energy Standard – 467.5
- London Roar – 458.5
- Iron – 369.5
- Aqua Centurions – 335.5
Energy Standard and London will face the Cali Condors and LA Current at the Las Vegas finale. Energy Standard has already beat Cali twice this season, and London has already beat LA Current twice this season, but LA Current managed the derby well and pulled off a minor upset of the Condors, so this finale should be a wide-open battle.
Final 2019 ISL Regular Season Standings:
| Rank | Team | Standings Points | Match 1 | Match 2 | Match 3 | Total |
| 1 | Energy Standard | 12 | 530 | 493 | 467.5 | 1490.5 |
| 2 | London Roar | 11 | 484.5 | 505.5 | 458.5 | 1448.5 |
| 3 | Cali Condors | 9 | 457 | 490.5 | 489.5 | 1437 |
| 4 | LA Current | 9 | 457 | 408 | 495 | 1360 |
| 5 | Iron | 7 | 402 | 425 | 369.5 | 1196.5 |
| 6 | DC Trident | 6 | 330.5 | 332 | 322.5 | 985 |
| 7 | Aqua Centurions | 3 | 300.5 | 331.5 | 335.5 | 967.5 |
| 8 | NY Breakers | 3 | 278.5 | 292.5 | 315 | 886 |
The ISL has had a nice inaugural season.
And it’s not over yet. The Season 1 Grand Finale ought to be just that.
I would say that Energy Standard is definitely better at playing the game than London Roar and had close to an optimal strategy, which probably comes from knowing their swimmers better.
For example, I think C1 has shown that she doesn’t have the best endurance. If they had rested her from the mixed relay, she would’ve been more likely to out-touch Sanchez in the skins for a 12 point swing at minimum. She won the 50 free over Sjostrom and Kromo, so she clearly has the raw speed.
Can someone re-score the first 2 rounds if Iron, DC, Aqua, and NY were together? I wonder if Iron could have made it.
I don’t have to rescore it. If you put those 4 teams together and the other 4 teams together, Iron would have definitely made it.
But, they still would’ve only been the 5th-best team in the league.
Makes you wonder how they assigned the groupings. Did they project that Energy and Roar were the strongest Euro teams, separate them, then project Current and Condors to be the strongest American teams and separate them too? It seems almost too neat and tidy to be a coincidence.
would love to see NY get some reinforcements next year – perhaps starting with Erika Brown and/or Coleman Stewart
Still only 12 men and 12 women per team for the finals in LV?
I thought you could have 14 men and 14 women or are they changing this for the final to 12 men and women.
Sorry two additional swimmers are allowed for relays only so yes you are right 12+2=14. But some teams have 20+ on their roster!