Disclaimer: Dolfin Swim of the Week is not meant to be a conclusive selection of the best overall swim of the week, but rather one Featured Swim to be explored in deeper detail. The Dolfin Swim is an opportunity to take a closer look at the context of one of the many fast swims this week, perhaps a swim that slipped through the cracks as others grabbed the headlines, or a race we didn’t get to examine as closely in the flood of weekly meets.
Heading into the skins races, Energy Standard trailed the London Roar by 22.5 points in the ISL season finale. The showdown looked to be in the women’s event, where both sides were loaded with top international talents. While Energy Standard appeared to have a solid edge in the men’s field, outscoring Energy by enough in the women’s race could mathematically seal the meet.
Energy Standard put up Sarah Sjostrom and Femke Heemskerk, the powerhouse duo who went 1-2 in both Group matches, with Sjostrom taking second in the Euro derby to the now-eliminated Ranomi Kromowidjojo. London, meanwhile, had the runners-up to Kromowidjojo from both Group B meets: Cate Campbell and Emma McKeon.
Campbell and Sjostrom are the true speedsters of the bunch, with McKeon the more rangy swimmer with perhaps an edge in the later rounds. Through the first round, all four advanced, knocking out all four American franchise entrants and declaring European dominance within the ISL.
Round 2 was the round of attrition. Sjostrom was the only swimmer to stay under 24 seconds in the quick turnaround, going 23.66 for second in round 1 but 23.98 for a big win in round 2. Campbell was second for London in 24.19. Energy had a slight edge with Heemskerk (24.21) beating McKeon (24.48) for third, but things would come down to the final, with a whopping 12-point swing between a win and a runner-up finish.
That’s our Swim of the Week. Sjostrom dominated with a 24.32, blowing out Australia’s Campbell by more than a full second. Entering the event, Energy Standard trailed by 22.5. Leaving it, they only trailed by 14.5, and almost guaranteed the win if they put two swimmers into the final round. They did so, and when London’s two entrants missed the cut by one and two tenths of a second, respectively, the ISL’s inaugural title was sealed for Energy Standard.
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