The Cali Condors have announced a second post-draft signee for the 2021 International Swimming League season. Mexican butterflier Angel Martinez will join the roster as an ISL debutant.
The team has also announced Sean Schimmel and Brian Schrader as new assistant coaches with the team.
Angel Martinez
Martinez, who earlier this week was named to his first Olympic Team for Mexico, swam collegiately in the United States at Texas A&M University. Finishing his NCAA career in 2019, he left the program as the school record holder in the 200 fly, 200 medley relay, and 400 medley relay.
Best Times:
| SCY | LCM | |
| 50 fly | — | 24.45 |
| 100 fly | 45.69 | 52.52 |
| 200 fly | 1:41.25 | 1:57.84 |
| 200 IM | 1:44.61 | 1:59.78 |
| 400 IM | 3:49.85 | — |
While he’ll need improvements to become a big scorer for the Condors in the ISL, his presence will be crucial for the team in filling lanes in the regular season.
The team has some good sprint butterfliers in Justin Ress, Coleman Stewart, Kacper Majchrzak, Oleg Kostin, and Marcin Cieslak, but none of them stretch well to the 200 fly.
The team’s “fan choice” to return, Eddie Wang, was one of the surprises of the 2020 ISL season, was a solid contributor for the Condors last season on their run to the ISL title. He excelled in the 200 fly, though was limited in his contributions elsewhere. With rumors circulating that Wang might not be available for the regular season, Martinez patches a substantial hole.
For the dominant teams like the Cali Condors, the league and roster format allows them to do ‘just enough’ to sneak out of the regular season before bringing back other swimmers for later rounds of competition.
He joins Kathrin Demler as post-draft announced signees for Cali. No other teams have announced any free agent signings, though league sources tell SwimSwam that league management has asked teams to not do so.
New Coaches
With Jeff Julian returning to the Condors as head coach this season after finishing his battle with cancer, the team will bring back Sean Schimmel and Brian Schrader as assistant coaches.
Last season, the team intended to have Julian and Jonty Skinner serve as co-head coaches, but Julian’s health prevented him from traveling to Budapest to participate in the season. That left Skinner serving as the team’s head coach in the bubble.
So far, Skinner has not been announced as part of the 2021 coaching staff.
The 2021 ISL regular season will be held in Naples, Italy and run from August 26-September 30. See the full schedule here.
Cali’s Announced 2021 Roster
| SWIMMER |
| Kelsi Dahlia |
| Beata Nelson |
| Molly Hannis |
| Justin Ress |
|
Coleman Stewart
|
| Marcin Cieslak |
|
Kacper Machjrzak
|
| Hali Flickinger |
| Erika Brown |
| Natalie Hinds |
| Nic Fink |
| Olivia Smoliga |
| Townley Haas |
| Lilly King |
| Caeleb Dressel |
| Maike de Waard |
| Eddy Wang |
| Brodie Williams |
| Oleg Kostin |
|
Alexandr Krasnykh
|
| Leonie Kullman |
| Emily Escobedo |
| Jesse Puts |
| Mark Szaranek |
|
Sherridon Dressel
|
| Khadar Baqlah |
| Kevin Cordes |
| Kathrin Demler |
| Angel Martinez |
As a Mexican swim fan I’m glad for him. Such a rollercoaster of emotions since he originally wasn’t slated to swim at the Olympics.