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BUDAPEST – Winning the 100 backstroke, breaking the short-course world record and delivering the first swim under 55 seconds in the history of this event: Minna Atherton did it all in one fell swoop. The 19-year-old Australian touched the wall after 54.89 – the first global standard set in the first season of the International Swimming League (ISL). “Its amazing. I can't really believe it yet. I am stoked”, Atherton said gasping for air after her historic race.
Atherton had already won all backstroke events at the previous ISL stop in Lewisville, Texas. On the first day in Budapest she missed the world record of Iron's Katinka Hosszu in the 200 backstroke by only 0.25 seconds and claimed the victory in the 50 just 0.14 seconds shy of the global standard. No 24 hours later the teenager shaved of 0.14 of the former mark in the 100, also held by the Hungarian superstar swimming right next to her while she did. How she did it? “I just gave it a big red-hot crack”, said Atherton.
With these world class performances, a triple by Emma McKeon, the addition of Olympic Champion Adam Peaty to the squad, victories in all five double-points relays as well as one win in the triple-point skins event by Kyle Chalmers, the London Roar powered to jet another impressive ISL win.
The Roar, who had already won the match in Lewisville, excelled in Budapest with a total of 505.5 points, leading by more than 80 points over Iron (425 points). The home team bumped the LA Current (408) from an interim second place with a strong performance, in large parts thanks to the work of Hosszu. The multi-stroke swimmer took on eight starts in two days, winning the 400 and 200 IM and the 200 butterfly, adding a meet-leading 42 points to her team's tally. The New York Breakers came in fourth with 292.5 points.
The stop in Budapest also saw the ISL debut of triple world champion Peaty. The captain of the London Roar sat out the first match of his team last weekend but instantly became the favorite for the 50 and the 100 meters breaststroke in Budapest. And the world record holder did not disappoint. “I did not expect to be fast at all. I’ve never really been that fast this time of year and that was my first race of the season. To get those under my belt under that kind of pressure was really good”, the 24-year-old said after two strong victories.
The league's stop in Hungary also offered a rather unfamiliar sight when it comes to the British superstar: Peaty stepped up to swim the 200 breaststroke, a distance he has not raced in international waters in years, and finished third as 2015 World Champion Marco Koch touched the wall first. “I am really happy with my performance, especially in the 200 to get that third place. It was good, I really enjoyed it", Peaty said, adding: "It's been brilliant, absolutely amazing. I've never ever felt an energy like this. I love the team, I live for the team."
Budapest was the fourth stop of the inaugural season of the ISL. And with all of the eight ISL teams having competed in two matches each, lines have been drawn before the next two meets that will decide which squads advance to Las Vegas for the first final of the ISL in December. The next stops will be held as continental derbys with the four US teams competing in College Park, Maryland, on November 15th and 16th, followed by the European clash in London, Great Britain, the weekend after.
This is the overall standing after the fourth match of the season:
Energy Standard, EU, 8 standing points
London Roar, EU, 8
Cali Condors, USA, 6
LA Current, USA, 5
Iron, EU, 5
DC Trident, USA, 4
Aqua Centurions, EU, 2
NY Breakers, USA, 2
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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.
27 October 2019
