The International Swimming League (ISL)’s Toronto Titans has released its official roster for the upcoming 2021 season, with a 36-swimmer roster slated to compete in Naples, Italy beginning in late August.
The Titans retained 15 swimmers from last season, including Great Britain’s Jay Lelliott via fan vote, and drafted 10 more athletes during in the inaugural ISL Draft, including using their rookie selection on Polish sprinter Kasia Wasick.
Additionally, the league’s only Canadian club signed 11 more swimmers during the post-draft free agency period.
TORONTO TITANS 2021 ROSTER
Protected from Last Season:
- Kylie Masse
- Kayla Sanchez
- Kelsey Wog
- Tessa Cieplucha
- Louise Hansson
- Michelle Coleman
- Lisa Bratton
- Yuri Kisil
- Cole Pratt
- Finlay Knox
- Blake Pieroni
- Shane Ryan
- Anton McKee
- Alberto Razzetti
Rookie Draft:
Fan Vote:
Draft:
- Chelsea Hodges
- Luc Kroon
- Marius Kusch
- Laura Stephens
- Grigori Pekarski
- Summer McIntosh
- Brent Hayden
- Max Litchfield
- Fabian Schwingenschlogl
Free Agent Signings:
- Anika Apostalon
- Candice Hall
- Sergey Fesikov
- Lorenzo Zazzeri
- Julia Hassler
- Dominika Sztandera
- Kaersten Meitz
- Larissa Oliveira
- Tobias Bjerg
- Sara Junevik
- Nils Wich-Glasen
Australian breaststroker Chelsea Hodges, who was Toronto’s first non-rookie selection in the draft, will miss the entire regular season for personal reasons, but will stay on the roster regardless. Poland’s Dominika Sztandera, a 2019 European Short Course Championship gold medalist in the women’s 4×50 medley relay, will take her place during the season.
Russian distance freestyler Anna Egorova, who was originally retained by the Titans, reaggravated an injury during the Olympics and will miss the season as well. The team has signed American Kaersten Meitz in her absence.
Some of the more notable newly-acquired swimmers for the club include Wasick, a top sprinter for the New York Breakers who scored 112.5 points last season, and German flyer Marius Kusch, who put up 110 points for the London Roar during Season 2.
Among the names joining the roster via free agency, Anika Apostalon, Candice Hall and Sergey Fesikov return from last season, while Larissa Oliveira joins the club from the Aqua Centurions.
Lorenzo Zazzeri, Julia Hassler, Sztandera, Meitz, Tobias Bjerg, Sara Junevik and Nils Wich-Glasen all signed with the Titans after not competing last season.
Toronto was one of two expansion clubs in Season 2 of the ISL, along with the Tokyo Frog Kings, and reached the league semi-finals, finishing seventh overall.
Canadian backstroker Kylie Masse, who won three medals at last week’s Tokyo Olympic Games, led the club with 164.5 points last season.
37-year-old Brent Hayden, who came out of a seven-year retirement in 2019 to gear up for the Tokyo Olympics, remains on the roster, indicating he’ll be back competing.
The Titans’ top scorer in 2020 that will not be back with the club next season is Rebecca Smith, who will be swimming at the University of Calgary beginning in September.
Someone who will be able to step in and fill that void will be Kayla Sanchez, a longtime training partner of Smith at the High Performance Centre – Ontario, who missed last season due to injury.
Sanchez and Smith teamed up to win silver in the women’s 400 freestyle relay for Canada at the Tokyo Olympic Games, while Sanchez was also a prelim contributor on the Canadian women’s 400 medley relay team that won bronze. Masse was also a member of that squad.
Another interesting addition for the Titans in Season 3 will be Summer McIntosh, who made her Olympic debut in July at the age of 14 for Canada.
McIntosh finished fourth in the women’s 400 freestyle, was a semi-finalist in the 200 free, and led off Canada’s fourth-place-finishing 800 free relay. Set to turn 15 before the season begins, McIntosh could be a sneaky-good pick for Toronto if she ends up competing.
I’m still confused about how they drafted wasick, who swam for the breakers last year, in that rookie round when all of the other teams drafted true rookies to the isl. Was this just an oversite that everyone in charge missed? By their logic, other teams could have drafted any non retained person in that rookie round.
Wasick decided not to be retained by NYB, so she was already available during the rookie round, which was before fan vote and the open draft round. Apparently ISL’s definition of availability to be selected during rookie round is true rookie or a vet who doesn’t want to be retained by their previous team (no idea why either, but that’s what their rule states)
Oh… Because it was her decision not to be retained rather than the teams. Still weird but at least there is some distinction from the other rounds. Thanks!
Losing Hodges is a big L
Was hoping for more local talent or at least Canadian talent.