Another day has passed and another new member of International Swimming League (ISL) Team Energy Standard has been announced.
This time it’s Brazilian breaststroker Felipe Lima who has joined the Turkey-based squad for season 2, switching it up from his LA Current squad from season 1.
As a former member of LA Current, Lima marks the first new member of Energy Standard to make the move from a Championship team. Last year, Lima ranked 48th among all MVP point scorers, having earned 78.0 across 4 meets, including the Las Vegas final.
At those Nevada finals, Lima finished 4th in the men’s 50m breast, 5th in the 100m breast and helped the LA Current medley relay finish 6th.
We’ve reported on an onslaught of Energy Standard signings this week, which have included returning members such as Femke Heemskerk and Evgeny Rylov, but also significant new signings to the tune of Pernille Blume and Siobhan Haughey.
Here is what the known Energy Stnaard roster looks like at this moment in time, with the new members identified via asterisk. We’re still awaiting roster announcements, or even hints for that matter, from the other teams.
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Energy Standard Season 2 Roster
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| *New Member | |
| Men | Women |
| Evgeny Rylov | Siobhan Haughey* |
| Ilya Shymanovich | Mary Sophie Harvey |
| Sergey Shevtsov | Imogen Clark |
| Maxim Stupin | Anastasiya Shkurdai |
| Kliment Kolesnikov | Zsuzsanna Jakabos* |
| Kregor Zirk | Femke Heemskerk |
| Felipe Lima* | Pernille Blume* |
| Simonas Bilis | |
| Max Litchfield |
I hope some other teams start announcing their rosters soon.
In the end… whats the real reason to switch teams? Isn’t money mostly an individual thing anyways?
There are significant individual bonuses for team success (we don’t know what those are yet for year 2, but in year 1 they were more than most athletes’ salaries), plus relay money. And of course the huge uptick in prize money for racing in the finals. Being on the best team assures you a spot in the finals.
True! Forgot about finals! Thanks!
You could answer this… can anyone start a team?
No. Teams must be granted by the league.
So if Canada wanted a team, a ”team leader” contacts the league and asks if its cool to start a team in Canada? Roughly….?
No. I don’t think that’s how it works at all.
There’s probably no one story that works for all of the teams, but best as I can tell, the ISL builds relationships and tries to identify people that they view as viable ‘partners,’ and work with them to start a team (the league maintains some equity in the teams, and the owner is given some equity). I think they view each team owner as bringing some value to the league brand for one reason or another. First and foremost, it seems like they were looking for people who would be able to build a coalition of athletes. Kitajima and the Japanese team is crucial to getting the Japanese swimmers participating… Read more »
ok gotcha!
This was already ridiculous before so let me consult my thesaurus….
This is imbecilic!!!
The way I see how isl will go season 1 was just an introduction, everyone was getting to know the league, season 2 you find all the mistakes/problems and in season 3 it may start to balance out when the isl bring in new rules to make teams more fair and balanced.
That’s assuming it makes it to a third season at this rate.
It has enough money to back it let’s hope so it’s a good idea and concept and it’s great to watch
They need to make it more like a league and less like people just moving between LSCs
https://imgflip.com/i/3ry7xm
Next week ES will be announcing they’ve cloned a 22 year old Phelps and signed Adam Peaty and Katie Ledecky.
I thought last year there is a cap to how many can go to each meet. With more swimmers means each will be going to only a few meets. Less commitment but also less money. And they may or may not be going to the big dance if swimmer cap stays.