NY Breakers and Iron in a Desperate Battle for 3rd as Day 1 of Match 3 Ends

2021 INTERNATIONAL SWIMMING LEAGUE – SEASON 3, MATCH 3

Team Standings – Day 1

  1. Energy Standard – 341.0 points
  2. London Roar – 214.0 points
  3. Iron – 181.5 points
  4. NY Breakers – 160.5 points

Despite key stars sitting out this match for Energy Standard, London Roar, and Iron, match 3 of the 2021 ISL season is shaping up as we expected. Though Energy Standard has some gaps in its roster–they struggle particularly in the IMs on the men’s side–the Paris-based team is still the most dominant of the four competing Thursday and Friday. London was very strong in both men’s and women’s backstroke on Thursday, and showed general well-roundedness in all disciplines. Iron, on the other hand, looked pretty good and is only 32.5 points behind London at the end of day 1. Most likely, though, Iron will not be able to catch London on day 2.

Currently, Iron leads the Breakers by 21 points, and the Breakers are desperate not to place 4th twice in a row. New York’s relay teams look good, but they only have one more chance at a relay tomorrow. As for the skins, no matter what stroke it is, without sprint superstar Michael Andrew, the Breakers will be hard-pressed to get even 1 swimmer into the semifinals, regardless of the strokes chosen. Perhaps, though, the Breakers could shine in the 400 IM on day 2. If you wanted an underdog to cheer for, here they are.

Abbie Wood, Matthew Temple, and Brendon Smith are carrying the Breakers so far this season, but the team is stretched undeniably thin, especially on the men’s side. This is exemplified by the event schedule taken on by 200 breaststroke specialist Marco Koch. In season 2, Koch focused almost exclusively on the 200 breaststroke, and it tended to pay off. Thursday, however, Koch swam the 200 breaststroke, the 50 breaststroke, the 4 x 100 medley relay (breaststroke), and most surprisingly, the 4 x 100 freestyle relay. Koch’s results are as follows:

  • 200 breaststroke – 2:05.26, 3rd, 6 points
  • 50 breaststroke – 27.72, 7th, 0 points (jackpot)
  • 4 x 100 medley relay – 58.64 breaststroke split, 3rd, 12 points
  • 4 x 100 free relay – 52.29 freestyle split, 8th, -2 points (failure to meet time standard)

Koch is most useful to the team when he can focus on the 200 breaststroke exclusively, maybe taking up the 100 when needed. Unfortunately this season, the Breakers don’t have enough swimmers on the men’s side to get the job done and give single-event specialists like Koch the opportunity to win their best races, potentially stealing points from other swimmers with a wide enough margin of victory. In fact, Koch did take a 30-point jackpot in the 200 breaststroke during the 2020 ISL season, stealing the point from 6 other swimmers.

While Koch works on getting his groove back, the Breakers can celebrate the early successes of rookie Matthew Temple. On Thursday, Temple placed 4th in the 100 fly in 50.28 and then put up a critical 46.37 anchor leg on the Breaker’s 4 x 100 freestyle relay, propelling them to 1st ahead of both London and Energy Standard. Temple is proving to be a clutch relay swimmer for the Breakers, with the ability to swim the 200 freestyle and 200 butterfly quite well. As he gets older he could become to the Breakers and to Australian Swimming what James Guy has become for Great Britain.

Based on points scored this 2021 season, Temple is not the best rookie in the league, though out of the 10 rookies drafted in the rookies-only round of the ISL draft, he is faring better than Arno Kamminga and Ryan Hoffer, the latter of which was voted as the best rookie draft pick this season.

2021 ISL Points – Rookie Draft

Overall Pick Team Swimmer 2021 Points
1 Aqua Centurions Arno Kamminga 16
2 DC Trident Ryan Hoffer 9
3 Matthew Temple NY Breakers 20.5
4 Toronto Titans Kasia Wasick 24
5 Tokyo Frog Kings Paige Madden 25
6 Iron Barbora Seemanova TBD*
7 LA Current Martin Malyutin 18.5
8 London Roar Kenzo Simons TBD*
9 Energy Standard Evgenia Chikunova 27.5
10 Cali Condors Maaike de Waard 21

*Since Seemanova and Simons are only halfway through their first ISL match, their point totals for now are listed as TBD.

Among the veterans who competed Thursday, Energy Standard’s Sarah Sjostrom swam a 23.17 in the women’s 50 freestyle, lowering Ranomi Kromowidjojo‘s (Iron) ISL Record of 23.29 set during the inaugural 2019 ISL season.

Sjostrom’s swim jackpotted 5 swimmers for a total of 24 points. Energy Standard teammate Siobhan Haughey placed 2nd in 23.80, giving Energy a total of 31 points in the race. World Record holder Kromowidjojo, swimming for Iron, placed 3rd in 24.04.

Sjostrom’s swim Thursday is the 3rd-fastest of her career and comes in as the 5th-fastest performance all-time.

ALL-TIME TOP PERFORMANCES, WOMEN’S 50 FREESTYLE

  1. Ranomi Kromowidjojo (2017) – 22.93
  2. Sarah Sjostrom (2017) – 23.00
  3. Ranomi Kromowidjojo (2020) – 23.05
  4. Sarah Sjostrom (2017) – 23.10
  5. Sarah Sjostrom (2021) – 23.17
  6. Cate Campbell (2017)/Ranomi Kromowidjojo (2018) – 23.19
  7. Sarah Sjostrom (2018) – 23.21
  8. Sarah Sjostrom (2017) – 23.22
  9. Ranomi Kromowidjojo (2018) – 23.23
  10. Ranomi Kromowidjojo (2013)/Ranomi Kromowidjojo (2015) – 23.24

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About Reid Carlson

Reid Carlson

Reid Carlson originally hails from Clay Center, Kansas, where he began swimming at age six.  At age 14 he began swimming club year-round and later with his high school team, making state all four years.  He was fortunate enough to draw the attention of Kalamazoo College where he went on to …

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