Meghan Small, Kelly Fertel Join Cali Condors for 2020 Season

Two more swimmers fresh off the completion of their NCAA careers have announced that they will join the Cali Condors for the 2nd season of the International Swimming League later this year.

Tennessee Volunteer swimmer Meghan Small and Florida Gator swimmer Kelly Fertel both added their names to the Condors’ roster.

They join a list of swimmers who are in their first year as professional athletes who announced their signings with the Condors on Wednesday, along with Wisconsin’s Beata Nelson, Tennessee’s Erika Brown, Georgia’s Veronica Burchill, and NC State’s Coleman Stewart.

The latest additions come as a balance to the four other announced signings. While Nelson, Brown, Burchill, and Stewart are all sprint free/butterfly/backstroke types, Small and Fertel specialize in the IM events and the 200 stroke events.

Condors’ current announced roster:

Details, including most of the teams’ rosters, have been thin for season 2 of the ISL. Swimmers were told last week that Budapest, not Australia, is the likely host for the league’s ‘regular season,’ with either Tokyo or Budapest expected to host the championship finale.

The Condors finished 3rd at the 2019 ISL finale in Las Vegas.

Final 2019 ISL Championship Standings:

• Energy Standard – 453.5
• London Roar – 444
• Cali Condors – 415.5
• LA Current – 318

Meghan Small

An 18-time All-America honoree at Tennessee, Small also has 7 SEC Championship titles to her name. That includes 200 IM victories in 2017, 2019, and 2020.

During her senior season, Small finished as the 3rd-best 200 IMer in the country, behind only her new Cali teammate Nelson and Virginia freshman Kate Douglass. She also ranked 8th nationally in the 400 IM and the 200 free.

Beyond the IM events, her best events are the backstrokes. The Condors, by adding Nelson, have already filled the spot vacated by Kylie Masse signing with Toronto, and with the presumed return of Olivia Smoliga, Small will probably only get a shot in the backstrokes as maybe the team’s 2nd swimmer in the 200 back, in addition to some possible opportunities in the 200 free.

Megha Smalls’ Best Times:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CEFMUoKhWZZ/

Kelly Fertel

Fertel is a Florida native who just finished her college career at the University of Florida, where she qualified for the (canceled) NCAA Championships in the 200 IM and 400 IM.

At the SEC Championships, she placed 8th in the 400 yard IM and 14th in the 200 yard IM (the latter event was won by her new teammate Meghan Small).

While she was 4:10 at those SEC Championships, as a junior at NCAAs she swam a 4:05.3, which was good for 8th place. While she’ll still need some development to have a major impact on the Condors’ ISL fortunes, she consistently dropped time in every year of her college career (until her shortened senior season), so there’s some momentum for upside.

Last season’s Cali Condors head coach Gregg Troy coaches a pro group based at the University of Florida and was the head of the Gators during Fertel’s freshman and sophomore years there.

Last season, the Condors used Melanie Margalis and Hali Flickinger as their primary IM swimmers. Margalis won the event at the Las Vegas finale in December, while Flickinger finished 8th.

Kelly Fertel‘s Best Times: