Every 2 weeks for the past month, the International Swimming League (ISL) has been posting to its YouTube channel full meet replays from its inaugural season in 2019.
The latest replay is from the ISL’s 3rd stop of the 2019 season, in Lewisville, Texas – just outside of Dallas.
In front of a standing-room-only crowd, the ISL welcomed 4 new teams to the stage, as the LA Current, Iron, London Roar, and New York Breakers all raced the first event in their respective franchise histories.
- See Also: the ISL’s first-ever meet in Indianapolis
- See Also: Caeleb Dressel’s ISL debut in Naples, Italy
Besides making history for 4 of the ISL’s clubs, the meet had a lot of other special moments. That included the first special signs from London Roar backstroking duo Guilherme Guido and Minna Atherton. Neither swimmer entered the season with much expectation of taking over the league, but between the two, they won 17 races as the duo boosted London Roar to their first-ever win.
Other Big Moments from ISL – Dallas 2019
- For the New York Breakers, Breeja Larson picked up their only win of the meet, taking the 100 breaststroke in 1:30.80. For Larson, who was in the midst of rebuilding her career at that time, that was a big moment, and now she’s back on the U.S. radar ahead of the Tokyo Olympic Games.
- Iron trio Vlad Morozov, Katinka Hosszu, and Ranomi Kromowidjojo finished as 3 of the top 6 in MVP scoring in Dallas. Iron had a top-end group that was as good as anyone’s in the league. It was ultimately depth that did them in – both in Dallas, where they finished 3rd, and across the season, where they missed the finale in Las Vegas, in spite of having some of the best performers in the league.
- The meet was the ISL debut for American swimmer Michael Andrew. Expectations were high, as Andrew’s training style is tailor-made for the ISL format. While he improved as the season went on, he struggled a little in Dallas, scoring 34 points for 8th in the MVP standings after a herculean 8 races.
- Andrew Seliskar won the 200 IM, just 22 minutes after placing 5th in the 400 free. He was very good at that double all season long for the Current, though the team wound up breaking it up in the championship in Las Vegas.
- This was the first time that ISL showed the portability of its concept. The facilities in Naples and Indianapolis are massive facilities built for international-standard competition. By comparison, the facility in Lewisville, while still an outstanding facility, was much smaller and built for high school and club training and competition. The league still managed to make the show look ‘big’ even in a smaller venue, which was a coup for the production staff.
FINAL ISL DALLAS 2019 RESULTS:
- London Roar – 484.5
- LA CUrrent – 457
- Iron – 402
- NY Breakers – 278.5
Match MVP: Vlad Morozov, Iron – 43.5 Points
Day 1 Full TV-Production Video
Day 2 Full TV-Production Video
