The International Swimming League (ISL) Team Iron has announced its newest team member, 17-year-old Ajna Kesely. Kesely joins fellow Hungarian teammates on Team Iron, such as Kristof Milak, Zsuzsanna Jakabos and the captain of the squad, Katinka Hosszu.
Kesely matches Australian Kaylee McKeown in age as the youngest end of the ISL age spectrum, with McKeown having joined Rome-based Aqua Centurions.
Young Kesely has been on a tear since she broke out on the international swimming stage at the 2015 European Youth Olympic Festival where she collected a haul of 5 individual medals, 4 of them gold. Kesely made the Hungarian Olympic team for Rio, finishing in 25th and 21st places, respectively after the women’s 200m and 400m freestyle heats.
Since then, Kesely won the 2017 World Junior Championships title in the 400m free, while also securing silver in the 200m, 800m and 1500m freestyle events in Indianapolis. The teen continued her momentum through the 2018 European Championships, battling the top senior athletes and coming away with 3 medals in Glasgow across the 400m free (silver), 800m free (silver) and 1500m free (bronze).
To top off her stellar 2018 year, Kesely busted out a trio of individual golds at the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, topping the podium once again across the 200m/400m/800m free races. Her 1:57.88 time in the 200m from that meet still ranks her 27th in the world, while her 8:27.60 800m free mark has Kesely situated 10th. Kesely’s season-best of 4:05.12 in the 400m free from Hungarian Nats in March is ranked 5th in the world this season.
Kesely is set to compete in the 200m/400m/800m/1500m free events this summer at the 2019 World Championships.
Best Times
200m free: 1:57.10 LCM; 1:57.83 SCM
400m free: 4:03.57 LCM; 4:03.62 SCM
800m free: 8:22.01 LCM; 8:21.25 SCM
1500m free: 16:03.22 LCM
