Cate Campbell believes the International Swimming League is heralding a new era in the sport as the four teams vying to be crowned inaugural champions fine-tune their final preparations in Las Vegas.
Campbell’s London Roar team will face LA Current, Cali Condors and Energy Standard, based in Antalya, Turkey, as they look to be crowned the very first ISL champions at the grand finale.
The teams will compete in a temporary pool, of which one side is transparent offering a side-on view of the swimmer under the water, at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center on 20-21 December.
Swimmers have universally praised the concept which had its first outing in Indianapolis in early October with subsequent meets in Naples, Lewisville (Texas), Budapest, College Park (Maryland) and London with the athletes competing for team points in each race.
Double Olympic relay champion Campbell has no doubt about the impact made by the ISL which reaches far beyond swimming to usher in a new dawn.
She said: “I think what is noticeable about this league is how much chatter it is creating.
“It’s a disruptive force. I have had people who don’t follow swimming come up and talk to me.
“It’s in all our newspapers at home and people are asking: ‘What is this new ISL? What is it about?’
“And I think that really is the first step, getting the name out there and spreading the word and telling people it’s swimming reinvented, it’s a different way of looking at swimming.
“It’s bringing swimming into the 21st century and for me that is really exciting.
“And to be a part of it and to be part of this revolution is a real honour and I hope that it can continue to build on this year.
“It has already made a name for itself in its first year which in itself says that there is an appetite for it and there is an audience for it.”
LA Current’s Nathan Adrian, a five-time Olympic champion, echoed Campbell’s sentiments with the ISL ushering in a bright, new dawn.
He said: “American sport has come so far in the last 20 years: I remember going to basketball games as a kid and I’d be like ‘man, why can’t we have the jumbotron? Why can’t we have the lasers and the light show going on?’ We do (have) that and that is going to be awesome.
“I am just really impressed about the fact it all came together especially the way it did. This was just an idea and here we are in Vegas at a hotel. I would have never bet this was going to happen two years ago. For so many people and so many moving parts to come together for it all to happen, I am totally blown away. So hats off.”
The MVP award and USD 5,000 at each meet goes to the swimmer who has earned the most points for their team.
In Vegas points will count double as will the MVP prize money with the winner in Nevada coming away with USD 10,000.
Sarah Sjostrom currently tops the rankings as the swimmer who has earned most points for their team throughout the entire competition and is in pole position to make a further USD 50,000 as Season MVP.
Sjostrom excels in both freestyle and butterfly, with Olympic medals in both, and although claiming points for her team is the priority, the Swede also has an eye on being MVP.
“The most important thing is to get points for my team but I have a big lead for MVP so it would be very nice to keep that. I just need to continue like I’ve been doing and hopefully even a little bit better because it’s the final so we’ll see. It would be very cool to win the first MVP award.”
Dressel, for his part, added: “I think I have had the same mindset since I was an age-grouper: show up to practise, make those around you better, make yourself better, and when you come to the meet just go best times.
“I don’t want to lose that mindset: I think money sometimes can make that a bit fuzzy but same mindset as 12-year-old Caeleb. Just try and go so best times this weekend: that’s about it.”
For further text, images, video and information go to http://apmultimedianewsroom.com/multimedia-newsroom/partners/international-swimming-league
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.
20 December 2019
