As had been previously speculated, the International Swimming League (ISL) final will not take place in Tokyo and it won’t be during the last week of December.
With Season 2 set to get underway, the league announced its full schedule Wednesday, including dates for a pair of semi-final matches and the grand finale.
With the regular season wrapping up on November 10, the ISL will jump right into the semis, with the two matches scheduled for Nov.14-15 and Nov.15-16, and then the final will take place less than a week later on Nov.21-22.
🏊🏻♂️ International Swimming League Season 2020 Final Schedule 👉🏻 Starting on 16 Oct with 10 group stage matches, the event will then move into two semi-finals before culminating in the final on 21 and 22 Nov. #Budapest2020 #ISL2020 #ISwimLeagueS02 #ISwimLeague pic.twitter.com/3TZwEjaF8M
— International Swimming League (@iswimleague) October 14, 2020
All matches will take place at the Duna Arena in Budapest.
In the league’s season launch in September, they announced that the final would take place towards the end of December, like it did last year, and that there was a chance it would be in Tokyo. That is no longer the case, as the entire duration of the season will be in Hungary, and there will be a total of five and a half weeks from start to finish.
Another key takeaway from the final being moved up by over a month is that certain swimmers, battling injury or otherwise, have targeted the ISL’s championship meet as a possible time to return if forced to miss the regular season. Among those is Canadian Kayla Sanchez, one of the top swimmers on the Toronto Titans, who is dealing with shoulder issues but was expected to return if the Titans made the final.
The schedule also features some slight alterations from the original release for the regular season, with matches from the third week on moved up by a day or two.
UPDATED ISL SCHEDULE
| Week | Date | Time (Budapest) | Time (U.S. ET) | Teams | Teams on Bye |
| 1 | Fri. Oct 16 – Sat. Oct 17 | 4-6 PM Friday, 8-10 PM Saturday | 10 AM – 12 PM Friday, 2-4 PM Saturday | Energy Standard, Cali Condors, LA Current, NY Breakers | Tokyo Frog Kings, Toronto Titans |
| 1 | Sun. Oct 18 – Mon. Oct. 19 | 6-8 PM Sunday, 4-6 PM Monday | 12-2 PM Sunday, 10 AM – 12 PM Monday | London Roar, DC Trident, Aqua Centurions, Iron | Tokyo Frog Kings, Toronto Titans |
| 2 | Sat. Oct 24 – Sun. Oct. 25 | 12-2 PM Saturday, 5-7 PM Sunday | 6-8 AM Saturday, 12-2 PM Sunday | Aqua Centurions, Tokyo Frog Kings, LA Current, Toronto Titans | Energy Standard, London Roar |
| 2 | Mon. Oct 26 – Tue. Oct. 27 | 3-5 PM Monday, 3-5 PM Tuesday | 10 AM – 12 PM Monday, 10 AM – 12 PM Tuesday | DC Trident, Iron, Cali Condors, NY Breakers | Energy Standard, London Roar |
| 3 | Fri. Oct 30 – Sat. Oct 31 | 12-2 PM Saturday, 6-8 PM Sunday | 10-12 PM Friday, 7-9 AM Saturday | London Roar, DC Trident, LA Current, Tokyo Frog Kings | Iron, Cali Condors |
| 3 | Sun Nov. 1 – Mon. Nov 2 | 6-8 PM Monday, 4-6 PM Tuesday | 12 – 2 PM Monday, 10 AM – 12 PM Tuesday | Energy Standard, Aqua Centurions, NY Breakers, Toronto Titans | Iron, Cali Condors |
| 4 | Thu. Nov. 5 – Fri. Nov. 6 | 4-6 PM Saturday, 4-6 PM Sunday | 10 AM-12 PM Saturday, 10 AM-12 PM Sunday | London Roar, Tokyo Frog, Kings, Cali Condors, NY Breakers | Aqua Centurions, LA Current |
| 4 | Thu. Nov 5 – Fri. Nov 6 | 10 AM-12 PM Monday, 10 AM-12 PM Tuesday | 4-6 AM Monday, 4-6 AM Tuesday | Energy Standard, DC Trident, Toronto Titans, Iron | Aqua Centurions, LA Current |
| 5 | Mon. Nov. 9 – Tue. Nov. 10 | 10 AM-12 PM Saturday, 10 AM-12 PM Sunday | 4-6 AM Saturday, 4-6 AM Sunday | Energy Standard, Iron, Tokyo, Frog Kings, Toronto Titans | DC Trident, NY Breakers |
| 5 | Mon. Nov. 9 – Tue. Nov. 10 | 4-6 PM Saturday, 4-6 PM Sunday | 10 AM-12 PM Saturday, 10 AM-12 PM Sunday | London Roar, Cali Condors, LA Current, Aqua Centurions | DC Trident, NY Breakers |
| Semi-Final | Sat. Nov 14 – Sun. Nov 15 | 12-2 PM Saturday, 6-8 PM Sunday | 6-8 AM Saturday, 12-2 PM Sunday | TBA | TBA |
| Semi-Final | Sun. Nov 15 – Mon. Nov 16 | 12-2 PM Sunday, 6-8 PM Monday | 6-8 AM Sunday,12-2 PM Monday | TBA | TBA |
| Final | Sat. Nov 21 – Sun. Nov 22 | 2-4 PM Saturday, 6-8 PM Sunday | 8-10 AM Saturday, 12-2 PM Sunday | TBA | TBA |
The times on here for today’s meet are wrong. The Budapest column should say 3pm-5pm not 12pm-2pm. The other times for tomorrow seem wrong too. I just went to watch and there was nothing to watch. :'(
Do we know the rules yet?
Thank you Swimswam for updating us thoroughly on what is going on with ISL.
It’s going to be interesting to see how the athletes handle the prolonged taper
The taper will consist of sleeping an extra couple hours on the day of the meet if they are lucky.
Can’t wait for it to happen, it’s hard to believe it’s been a year since this started!