NAPLES – Hard to tell who was more excited: Was it Federica Pellegrini the day before the very first European meet of the inaugural International Swimming League (ISL) on the 12th and 13th of October. Or was it the city of Naples, who greeted La Pellegrini like royalty, with cameras clicking all around at a press conference in the city hall on friday afternoon.
“I am so excited to have this great event in my country”, the Olympic Champion said. One week after the historic kick-off meet of the ISL in Indianapolis the world's best swimmers headed to Naples, Italy, for the first ISL match in Europe. “This will be another world for us”, the captain of the home team Aqua Centurions added in comparison to the first meet in Indianapolis.
Pellegrini is counting on the support of the swim fans in Italy. “It will be amazing”, she said, reminding everyone of the 2009 World Championships in Rome, where she crowned herself queen of the 200 m and 400 m freestyle by crushing both worldrecords. And the 29 year old, also known as the Lioness of Verona, is yet again ready to roar: “We are ready to fight.” And they need to be, since the Aqua Centurions finished fourth at the first meet. Only the top two teams of Europe and of the USA advance to the league's final in Las Vegas.
The top US team so far are the Cali Condors, who finished second behind Europe's Energy Standard last weekend. But: The Condors are bringing no one less than Caeleb Dressel to the fight in Naples. The US superstar sat out of the first ISL match, which saw sprint champions like Florent Manaudou lead Energy Standard to victory. The Condors placed second, followed by DC Trident and the Aqua Centurions. And Dressel, who won the world titles in the 50 and 100 m freestyle and butterfly, is prepared to give Manaudou a run for his money to tip the meet in favor of the Cali Condors. “I will swim whatever the coaching staff, managers, and teammates need me to swim. My job is to score points for this team and I want to help with that in any way that I can.”
Ahead of the League's first match in Europe ISL president Konstantin Grigorishin joined a panel discussion on sport and social health in Naples. “Sports are very important in daily life. People learn basic values like friendship and respect in sports, its main objective is unity”, Grigorishin said, explaining that it was a pool at his school, that changed his live for the better when he was a young boy: “I fell in love with swimming and I still love it. This is what we want to do with this.”
Grigorishin was not able to attend the first meet in Indianapolis in person, but he liked what he saw on tv. The ISL president acknowledged some bumps in terms of production. “I anticipated some mistakes, this is the first time. And we did make some mistakes. But we will fix them. I am happy that we are on the right track. What I liked: The swimmers are happy, the dynamic of the competition is very good. The main thing that we wanted to do is transport emotions.” And the ISL is ready to do it again.
11 October 2019
