2019 INTERNATIONAL SWIMMING LEAGUE: GROUP B, MATCH 1
- Saturday, October 19th – Sunday, October 20th
- 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm Central Time
- The LISD Westside Aquatic Center – Lewisville, TX
- Short Course Meters (SCM)
- Group B: Iron, LA Current, London Roar, New York Breakers
The London Roar’s winning 400 medley relay on Sunday at the Lewisville stop of the International Swimming League may have been representing a “British team,” but all 4 athletes are of Australian nationality, and the group combined to swim under the Australian Record in the final.
The relay of Minna Atherton, Jess Hansen, Emma McKeon, and Cate Campbell combined to swim a 3:47.91, which easily broke the 2010 record of 3:48.88. What’s more, the Australian/Roar relay probably left more than a second in the water – with anchor Cate Campbell hitting the water 2.5 seconds ahead of the LA Current’s 2nd-place relay, she was able to cruise to a win. She split 52.0 on the anchor – which actually still extended their lead – but she was 50.8 in a relay earlier in the meet, and is the World Record holder in short course meters at 50.25 (on a flat start – which was at a similar time of year as this weekend’s meet in 2017).
The big difference-maker was Minna Atherton, who was one of the pleasant surprises as Group B opened this weekend. She swam a 55.45, which is the 4th-fastest performance in history, a US Open Record, and very-nearly an Australian Record.
| Old Record | New Record | ||
| Rachel Goh | 57.39 | Minna Atherton | 55.45 |
| Leisel Jones | 1:03.76 | Jess Hansen | 1:04.73 |
| Felicity Galves | 55.56 | Emma McKeon | 55.67 |
| Marieke Guehrer | 52.17 | Cate Campbell | 52.06 |
| Total Time | 3:48.88 | Total Time | 3:47.91 |
The World Record in the relay is 3:45.20, which was set by a U.S. team at the 2015 Duel in the Pool meet.
So do these records officially count ? Or do they need FINA ratification ?
National records are separate from FINA.
has Australia said if they will recognize these records though? I know USA has but haven’t heard an offical word from other countries.
I’m guessing we wont hear for another 4-8 weeks until their respective boards (NGB’s) can meet and approve it.
Will be funny having the Australian Record held by London Roar…
Will it count as Oceania record though ?
those are FINA’s records, so no. unless this is one of the 2/8 competitions that FINA has hastily approved.
This meet is actually FINA approved, so unlike the first 2 meets, it’s not really a conflict here.
Probably. Likely, FINA realized it might not look very good for their image if a handful of national records ended up being faster that the “world” records.
It’s much more nuanced then this. There are the actual reasons they originally declined sanctioning (conflict with other FINA event, not within 6 month sanction period) and the behind the seasons reason (stop a direct competitor, backlash, optics).
They likely caved a little to stem the criticism