Play video
BUDAPEST - In his first event after his triple-gold performance at the World Championships this summer, Adam Peaty was in the spotlight once again, as the Olympic Champion gave his debut for the International Swimming League (ISL), the first global pro-team event in swimming history.
The captain of the London Roar sat out the first match of his team last weekend in Lewisville, Texas, but instantly became the favorite for the 50 and the 100 meters breaststroke for Budapest. And as expected, the world record holder touched the wall first after 50 meters, showing last weeks winner, team Iron's freestyle specialist Vladimir Morozov, how it's done.
The 100 meters are on ISL's Sunday agenda. But the Saturday for the 24-year-old was not over yet. 30 minutes after giving the winning men's 4x100 medley relay a boost, Peaty stepped up again to swim the 200 breaststroke, a distance he has not raced in international waters in years, let alone in a short course pool.
But with the ISL, “it's all about the team”, Peaty said. And not swimming the 200 while London's last week's winner Matthew Wilson is not competing in Budapest, "would just be the wrong attitude to use”, Peaty added: “Sometimes I got to swallow my pride.” His 200 performance saw him touch third as 2015 World Champion Marco Koch (NY Breakers) took the win over world record holder Kiriil Prigoda, another one of Roar's finest, who took top spot on the opening night of the two-day meet with 251.5 points, followed by the LA Current (212.5), Iron (203.5) and the New York Breakers (142.5).
The highlight performance of the first day was delivered by yet another London Roar member. 19-year-old Minna Atherton missed the world record of superstar Katinka Hosszu in the 200 backstroke by only 0.25 seconds, clocking 1:59.48 minutes and leaving Hungary's Olympic silver medallist behind. And as if this was not exciting enough, the Australian, who already won all backstroke races in last weeks ISL clash, also claimed the victory in the 50 backstroke in another world-class time of 25.81 seconds - again just 0.14 seconds shy of the world record.
Triple Olympic Champion Hosszu had promised the home crowd in the Duna Arena “a cool show” and team Iron did not disappoint. After a bumpy start into last weeks meet Iron took five wins on day one, including one in the men's 4x100 freestyle relay which concluded an exciting Saturday evening. Hosszu contributed with a win in the 400 IM, a second place in the 200 backstroke and a third in the 200 freestyle. A total of 22 points made the multi-stroke swimmer top-scorer of day one, followed by Atherton and Roar mate Emma McKeon, winner of the 100 butterfly and 200 freestyle, with 21.5 points each.
For further text, images, video and information go to http://apmultimedianewsroom.com/multimedia-newsroom/partners/international-swimming-league
Meet details
What: Fourth competition of the International Swimming League’s inaugural season
Who: LA Current, NY Breakers, Team Iron, London Roar
When: Saturday and sunday, October 16th and 27th, 7pm
Where: Budapest, Hungary
About the ISL: The International Swimming League is a global professional swimming competition launching in 2019 with teams in both Europe (Italy-based Aqua Centurions, France-based Energy Standard, Hungary-based Iron, and London Roar) and the United States (Cali Condors, DC Trident, LA Current, NY Breakers). The inaugural season will include matches in Indianapolis IN, Naples ITA, Lewisville TX, Budapest HUN, College Park MD, London GBR, and the championship finale at the 12,000-seat Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, NV. The ISL aims to create groundbreaking projects, in both form and content, exploring the full potential of competitive swimming while securing sustainable commercial growth in the sport.
A full set of images can be downloaded at https://lapresse.wetransfer.com/downloads/0180a2ac8f79416cd49785d29ed3995020191026185205/6ac681152252879578b6202593dd4b9420191026185205/e734bd
26 October 2019
