Robert Glinta’s Skins Victory Gives Iron a 2nd-Place Finish in Playoff Match 6

2021 INTERNATIONAL SWIMMING LEAGUE – SEASON 3, MATCH 17 – PLAYOFFS MATCH 6

FINAL TEAM STANDINGS

  1. Cali Condors – 532.5 points
  2.  Iron – 446 points
  3. Aqua Centurions – 444.5 points
  4. Toronto Titans – 331 points

Heading into the second day of competition of the final playoff match of the 2021 ISL season, the Aqua Centurions held a 14-point lead over the season 2 champions the Cali Condors. The Condors went on to win the match though the Aqua Centurions and Iron put up an impressive fight. In the final moments of competition, Iron surged to 2nd place, defeating the Aqua Centurions by just 1.5 points.

Robert Glinta‘s Skins Victory Earns Iron 2nd Place

Iron’s 2nd-place would not have been possible if not for two events. First, Aqua Centurion head coach Matteo Giunta chose backstroke for the men’s skins, having earned that right after the Centurions dominated the men’s 4 x 100 medley relay on Saturday. This, as we pointed out in the day 1 wrap up, looked like it would benefit Iron more than any other team. Exactly as predicted, Iron did well in the men’s skins, winning the event and securing a 2nd-place finish in the match overall.

Robert Glinta was Iron’s hero in the skins, though we cannot overlook Ranomi Kromowidjojo‘s efforts in the women’s skins. Glinta won the men’s 50 backstroke skins for the second time this season, getting the better of Cali’s Justin Ress in the final one-on-one battle. Before the final race of the meet, Iron sat in 3rd in the team standings with 432.0 points, just behind the Aqua Centurions who sat in 2nd with 444.5 points. However, with the win and the 14-point uptick to give Iron 446.0 points.

Matteo Rivolta is the Aqua Centurion’s 1st Season 3 MVP

Matteo Rivolta got the ball rolling for the Aqua Centurions with a huge win in the men’s 100 butterfly on Saturday, blasting a 48.64 to win the race and pull in a 15-point jackpot, earning 24 total points in the race. In doing so, Rivolta became just the 5th man to ever crack the 49-second barrier in the race. Russia’s Evgeny Korotyshkin was the first man to ever break 49 back in the “super-suit era” in 2009 with a 48.48, the current European Record. Since then, Americans Tom Shields and Caeleb Dressel, as well as South African Chad le Clos have been faster.

In addition to his huge win in the men’s 100 butterfly, Rivolta placed 4th in the men’s 50 backstroke (23.36), 3rd in the men’s 100 backstroke (50.36), 2nd in the 50 butterfly (22.39), and advanced to the semi-final of the men’s 50 backstroke skins, placing 3rd (23.33 round 1; 24.59 round 2).

Rivolta earned a total of 55.0 points in Playoff Match 6, good enough to earn the designation of Match MVP. Rivolta is the first swimmer from the Aqua Centurions to earn Match MVP honors in season 3.

Playoff Match 6 MVPs – Top-10

  1. Matteo Rivolta (AQC), 55 points
  2. Hali Flickinger (CAC), 51 points
  3. Beata Nelson (CAC), 47.5 points
  4. Robert Glinta (IRO), 46 points
  5. Lilly King (CAC), 44 points
  6. Ranomi Kromowidjojo (IRO), 39.5 points
  7. Justin Ress (CAC), 38.5 points
  8. Kylie Masse (TOR), 37.5 points
  9. Kelsi Dahlia (CAC), 37 points
  10. Erika Brown (CAC), 36.5 points

Match MVPs – Regular Season & Playoffs

  • Match 1: Sarah Sjostrom (ENS), 60.5 points
  • Match 2: Coleman Stewart (CAC), 95.0 points
  • Match 3: Siobhan Haughey (ENS), 78.0 points
  • Match 4: Caeleb Dressel (CAC), 112.5 points
  • Match 5: Louise Hansson (TOR), 57.5 points
  • Match 6: Daiya Seto (TOK), 57.0 points
  • Match 7: Beata Nelson (CAC), 67.0 points
  • Match 8: Ilya Shymanovich (ENS), 64.0 points
  • Match 9: Evgeny Rylov (ENS), 60.5 points
  • Match 10: Daiya Seto (TOK), 50.0 points
  • Match 11 – Play-In Match: Ranomi Kromowidjojo (IRO), 43.5 points
  • Playoff Match 1: Ilya Shymanovich (ENS), 62.5 points
  • Playoff Match 2: Ryan Murphy (LAC), 58.0 points
  • Playoff Match 3: Sarah Sjostrom (ENS), 87.5 points
  • Playoff Match 4: Duncan Scott (LON), 60.0 points
  • Playoff Match 5: Ilya Shymanovich (ENS), 83.5 points
  • Playoff Match 6: Matteo Rivolta (AQC), 55.0 points

Team Standings After Playoff Match 6

Following the culmination of Playoff Match 6, Energy Standard and the Cali Condors are tied for 1st in the season standings with 11 points. The London Roar hold 3rd place in team standings with 10 points while the LA Current sits 4th with 8 points. The Toronto Titans could have broken into the final if the had been able to win Playoff Match 6, though with only 8 men covering half of the events on offer in the meet. Ultimately, the Titans finish the playoffs with 6 points–points earned in the playoffs, not the regular season. The Aqua Centurions and Iron finish the playoffs tied with 5 points while DC finishes 8th in the playoff pool with just 4 points.

Here again, Iron can thank Glinta for their equal-6th-place finish, as it was the 3 team points won in Playoff Match 6 that put them up to 5 points total.

Rank Team Matches Played Match 1 Match 2 Match 3 Match 4 Match 5 Match 6 Total
=1 Energy Standard 3 3 4 4 11
=1 Cali Condors 2 4 3 4 11
3 London Roar 3 3 4 3 10
4 LA Current 3 4 2 2 8
5 Toronto Titans 2 2 3 1 6
=6 Aqua Centurions 2 1 2 2 5
=6 Iron 2 1 1 3 5
8 DC Trident 3 2 1 1 4

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Troyy
3 years ago

Is there a season MVP ranking anywhere?

Sub13
Reply to  Troyy
3 years ago

I was looking for this too and eventually found it. If you open the “results book” for a completed on Omega, then it has the current season rankings at the end, after the Match MVP rankings.

Troyy
Reply to  Sub13
3 years ago

No one’s gonna beat Sjostrom for season MVP.

Sub13
Reply to  Troyy
3 years ago

Pretty much. And who cares about depth when the top 3 swimmers in the entire league are all on the same team and you can just jackpot all the points away from teams with better depth anyway.

Actually, on second thought, if Sjostrom doesn’t win the 100 fly (Dahlia and McKeon have both been faster), the 100IM (Gastaldello, Gorbenko and Nelson have all been faster) or the 50 fly (Dahlia only 0.2 off Sjostrom’s ISL season best) her points take a hit. 50 Free is an absolute gimme though, no one else has been within 0.35 of her.

If the above happens and Haughey pulls out a league record in the 100, 200 and 400 it’s possible. But very, very… Read more »

Last edited 3 years ago by Sub13
Swimmer
Reply to  Sub13
3 years ago

A league record in the 400 would be a WR wouldn’t it? She can definitely do it in the other 2 though. I want to see her take down the 200 WR – she is such a great competitor and she’s been so close.

Admin
Reply to  Troyy
3 years ago

Check the dropdown at the top under “ISL 2021”

About Reid Carlson

Reid Carlson

Reid Carlson originally hails from Clay Center, Kansas, where he began swimming at age six with the Clay Center Tiger Sharks, a summer league team. At age 14 he began swimming club year-round with the Manhattan Marlins (Manhattan, KS), which took some convincing from his mother as he was very …

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