ISL Season Opener: Rooney, Ferreira Provide 1-2 Punch On LA Current Relays

2020 INTERNATIONAL SWIMMING LEAGUE: MATCH 1

• Friday, October 16: 4 PM-6 PM Local Time (10 AM-12 noon U.S. Eastern, 11 PM-1 AM J+1 Japan)
• Saturday, October 17: 8 PM-10 PM Local Time (2 PM-4 PM U.S. Eastern, 3 AM-5 AM J+1 Japan)
• Duna Arena – Budapest, Hungary
• Short Course Meters (SCM) format
• 2020 ISL Scoring Format
• 2020 ISL Prize Money and Bonuses
• How To Watch
• Teams: Energy Standard, Cali Condors, LA Current, NY Breakers
• Full Day 1 Results (PDF)

The opening day of the International Swimming League’s 2020 season got underway Friday in Budapest, with several standout swims popping up across the board.

Among those were relay splits, where we saw some blistering legs and got an added glimpse into what kind of form the athletes are on (especially with 3/4 stroke 100s taking place on Day 2).

Below, check out the splits from each of the four relays, along with a bit of analysis.

Women’s 400 Freestyle Relay

Lead-offs

Flying Splits

On the lead-off leg, Siobhan Haughey proved she’s on top form by setting a new Asian Record, similar to what we saw her throughout last season when she was with the DC Trident. Kasia Wasick was also impressive, while Lia Neal was further off the pace then we might have expected.

Three monsters last year – Sarah Sjostrom, Olivia Smoliga and Béryl Gastaldello – all delivered with 51-mid flying legs, while Andi Murez, Allison Schmitt and Anastasia Gorbenko all hit 52-lows under the radar, which will prove valuable for their clubs as the season rolls on.

Men’s 400 Freestyle Relay

Lead-offs

Flying Splits

For the men, no one could have predicted that Brazilian Marco Ferreira would out-race Caeleb Dressel, but he did, leading the LA Current to victory after opening in 46.72. He’ll be a huge asset for them, while Dressel will be just fine, though it doesn’t appear he’ll be near his best early on. Everyone leading off was relatively strong, with all swimmers under 47.7.

In a great battle at the front of the race, seven men churned out 46-second legs out of the top-three teams, with Pieter Timmers also doing so for the New York Breakers. While Maxime Rooney was a clear standout today, especially later in the medley relay, Kristian Gkolomeev, Florent Manaudou, Chad Le Clos and Townley Haas were also clutch.

Women’s 400 Medley Relay

Backstroke

Breaststroke

Butterfly

Freestyle

In the women’s medley, Smoliga remained on fire, while Beata Nelson and Emily Seebohm also had strong backstroke legs. Molly Hannis out-split Lilly King on breast, and Anastasiya Shkurdai showed she’ll be a force to be reckoned with as she threw down a monstrous 55.34 fly leg for Energy Standard. Sjostrom, Murez and Wasick followed up their free relay performances with more fast swims.

With a 1:04.9 breast leg and a 52-low free split, Gorbenko was undoubtedly one of the day’s biggest surprises.

Men’s 400 Medley Relay

Backstroke

Breaststroke

Butterfly

Freestyle

The story of the men’s medley was Rooney, who ran down Simonas Bilis to win the event for the LA Current. Rooney was the only swimmer with a sub-46 split on the day in 45.86, while Ferreira’ 46.60 leg gave the Current the fastest two anchors in the field. Tom Shields was on fire on butterfly, out-splitting Le Clos and Dressel in 49.05, while Ryan Murphy and Ilya Shymanovich were fastest on back and breast to no one’s surprise.

Notably, Coleman Stewart was 50.50 on backstroke, and Marco Koch joined Shymanovich in the 56s on breast.

On the other end, the Condors failed to have either breaststroker crack 59, and the Breakers had no sub-52 backstrokers.