A pair of tightly contested skins races, some incredibly fast swims including a world record for Minna Atherton and one very close team battle were among the highlights on Day 2 as the International Swimming League’s fourth match in Budapest wrapped up on Sunday.
The London Roar had won last weekend’s match with their fellow Group ‘B’ clubs in Lewisville, and had distanced themselves from the field after Day 1 here in Budapest with a 39-point lead. They had an even better performance on Day 2, claiming 10 out of 18 events to ultimately win the match by 80 points with 505.
The Roar were led by Australian Kyle Chalmers on Day 2, as he won the men’s 100 freestyle, the match-ending skins, and also contributed to London's winning mixed free relay. The 21-year-old also placed second in the 50 free on Day 1 to finish with 41.5 points, second only to Iron’s Katinka Hosszu (47).
After failing to advance out of the opening round of the skins last weekend, that was Chalmers’ primary focus coming in tonight.
"It's great fun,” he said after the race. “It's something I struggled to do in Dallas is get through that second round. I knew that if I could do that I'd have a good shot of winning it.”
Second on the club in points was Emma McKeon, who added a win in the women’s 100 freestyle (tying with teammate Cate Campbell) and a fifth-place finish in the skins to her two wins on Day 1 for 39.5 points.
Also among the standouts for the Roar on Day 2 was Minna Atherton and Adam Peaty.
Atherton, 19, won the women’s 100 backstroke in a new world record time of 54.89 seconds, giving her a perfect six-for-six record in the female backstroke events through her first two matches. Earlier in the session she had narrowly missed the mark leading off the women’s medley relay.
“I am really happy with that, especially since I just missed it in the relay,” Atherton said after just missing the record on a medley relay leadoff leg and then later hitting it in the individual race. “It will be exciting to see what is coming up in the future. The London Roar did very well, especially Kyle winning the Skins. I really enjoy swimming for the team. And I am really looking forward to the home meet in London. Swimming in front of the home crowd is gonna be amazing.”
Peaty, who made his ISL debut on Saturday, won his second event of the match in the men’s 100 breaststroke, finishing with 28.5 point. He comes away from his first match with nothing but positives.
"It's been brilliant, absolutely amazing,” said Peaty. “I've never ever felt an energy like this, and I think it really helps bringing all the different cultures, all the different team members around the world together. I love the team, I live for the team."
While the Roar were up ahead, Iron and the LA Current were locked in a tight race in the team standings. The two traded second place back and forth throughout the day, with Iron getting up to a 19-point advantage at one point before the Current pushed themselves to a 14-point lead with just four events remaining.
It was in those four events where Iron really stepped up, as Hungarians Hosszu and Kristof Milak sent the Budapest crowd into a frenzy with close wins over the LA Current’s Katie McLaughlin and Tom Shields in the women’s and men’s 200 butterfly to chip their deficit down to eight points.
Then, Ranomi Kromowidjojo repeated with a win in the skins, the three-round 50 free eliminator (worth triple points), to put them safely into second. Vladimir Morozov solidified this position by finishing as the runner-up to Chalmers in the men’s skins. The club finished with 425 points to top the LA Current (408) by 17.
Hosszu’s 47 points earns her match MVP, awarded to the swimmer who scores the most points for his or her team. Hosszu raced in a total of six individual events over the two days, winning the 200 and 400 individual medley in addition to the 200 fly.
“I think we did what we needed to do,” said Hosszu of her team. “And I was able to help my team with 47 points, so I'm really excited."
Kromowidjojo (40.5), Morozov (38.0) and Milak (36.5) gave Iron four swimmers inside the top-six point scorers for the match, which proved to be critical to the club’s successful performance.
The LA Current struggled with only two wins on Sunday. Béryl Gastaldello tied with London’s Holly Barratt in the women’s 50 fly, and Andrew Seliskar won the men’s 200 IM. Both were repeat winners from last weekend in Lewisville.
Michael Andrew led the fourth-place NY Breakers with 28.5 points for the match, racking up three individual top-4 finishes here on Day 2 in the men’s 100 breaststroke, 50 butterfly, and the skins.
Final Point Standings, Budapest
â— London Roar, 505.0
â— Iron, 425.0
â— LA Current, 408.0
â— NY Breakers, 292.5
Club Scoring Through Match 4 (Group B)
â— London Roar, 8
â— LA Current, 5
â— Iron, 5
â— NY Breakers, 2
Day 2 Winners:
â— Women’s 100 Freestyle - Cate Campbell, London Roar / Emma McKeon, London Roar - 51.02
â— Men’s 100 Freestyle - Kyle Chalmers, London Roar - 45.77
â— Women’s 100 Breaststroke - Alia Atkinson, Iron - 1:03.84
â— Men’s 100 Breaststroke - Adam Peaty, London Roar - 56.19
â— Women’s 400 Freestyle - Ajna Kesely, Iron - 4:01.27
â— Men’s 400 Freestyle - Elijah Winnington, London Roar - 3:38.30
â— Women’s 4x100 Medley Relay - London Roar (Atherton, Hansen, Wattel, C.Campbell) - 3:47.39
â— Men’s 200 Individual Medley - Andrew Seliskar, LA Current - 1:53.11
â— Women’s 200 Individual Medley - Katinka Hosszu, Iron - 2:05.11
â— Men’s 50 Butterfly - Szebastian Szabo, Iron - 22.20
â— Women’s 50 Butterfly - Béryl Gastaldello, LA Current / Holly Barratt, London Roar - 24.92
â— Men’s 100 Backstroke - Guilherme Guido, London Roar - 49.61
â— Women’s 100 Backstroke - Minna Atherton, London Roar - 54.89
â— Mixed 4x100 Freestyle Relay - London Roar (Kisil, Chalmers, B.Campbell, McKeon) - 3:17.05
â— Women’s 200 Butterfly - Katinka Hosszu, Iron - 2:05.37
â— Men’s 200 Butterfly - Kristof Milak, Iron - 1:49.98
â— Women’s 50 Freestyle Skins - Ranomi Kromowidjojo, Iron (23.71, 23.97, 24.28)
â— Men’s 50 Freestyle Skins - Kyle Chalmers, London Roar (21.08, 21.63, 21.76)
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.
Key Dates:
5-6 October 2019 – IU Natatorium, Indianapolis, USA
12-13 October 2019 – Aquatic Swimming Complex, Naples, Italy
19-20 October 2019 – The LISD Westside Aquatic Center, Lewisville, Texas, USA
26-27 October 2019 – Duna Area, Budapest, Hungary
16-17 November 2019 – Natatorium at the Eppley Recreation Center, Maryland, USA
23-24 November 2019 – London Aquatic Centre, Great Britain
20-21 December 2019 – Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, Las Vegas, USA
ISL SOCIAL: Keep up with all the latest ISL news by following @iswimleague on Instagram and Twitter and @internationalswimmingleague on Facebook. Visit https://isl.global
Media Contact: James Mulligan (james.mulligan@isl.global)
International Swimming League Ltd
Alfred-Escher-Strasse 17, 8002 Zurich, Switzerland
28 October 2019
