ISL Match 3, Day 1: LA Current, With Control of Both Skins, Leads After Day 1

Abbey Weitzeil and Beryl Gastaldello (photo: Mike Lewis)
Beryl Gastaldello & Abbey Weitzeil. Photo Courtesy: MIKE LEWIS / ISL

The International Swimming League’s two newest teams get underway in ISL Match 3, with the Tokyo Frog Kings and Toronto Titans each hitting the water for the first time. They’re joined by two teams looking to make up ground after difficult starts.

The LA Current finished third against a difficult field in Match 1 and have the chance to pick up points against the newcomers. Aqua Centurions are fresh off a fourth-place finish in Match 2, one of the few back-to-backs in ISL Season 2.

Day 1 gets underway early, with a noon start in Budapest. That’s 7 p.m. in Tokyo, 6 a.m. in Toronto and 3 a.m. in Los Angeles.

Day 2 will have a later start at 5 p.m. in Budapest (midnight Tokyo, 11 a.m. Toronto, 8 a.m. L.A.). The women will swim freestyle skins and the men will do backstroke tomorrow.

ISL TEAM SCORES (after Day 1)

Results

  1. LA Current 262.5
  2. Tokyo Frog Kings 248.5
  3. Toronto Titans 208.5
  4. Aqua Centurions 156.5

Five Races to Watch

Where to watch:

  • BeIn Sports
  • Belarus TV and Radio Company
  • BBC
  • CBS
  • CBC
  • Claro Sports
  • ESPN (Central America)
  • Eurosport
  • Eurosport India
  • M4
  • Match TV
  • Seven
  • Sky, Gazetta Dello Sport
  • Sport 1
  • Sportklub
  • TV Asahi
  • TV Globo

*Jackpot times are determined in advance: for instance, 1.35secs in the men’s 100 free. If the winner touches in 45secs, all those who are slower than 46.35 forfeit their points to the man who stopped the clock first.

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Photo Courtesy: Mine Kasapoglu

Women’s 100 Butterfly

Louise Hansson got things started quickly for the Toronto Titans, picking up the win. She got to the wall first in 56.45 seconds. It was a 1-3 finish for the Titans with Rebecca Smith in third, a 16-point haul.

The other expansion side, Tokyo, grabbed second and fourth thanks to Suzuka Hasegawa (56.51) and Yui Ohashi.

Men’s 100 Butterfly

In the battle of the winners of Match 1 and Match 2, Tom Shields picked up his second victory, scaring Caeleb Dressel’s ISL record with a time of 49.30 for the Current. Shields was out in 22.93. It’s quicker than the 49.58 he turned in in Match 1.

“I haven’t been out in 22 in a long, long time, so that’s good to hear,” Shields said on the broadcast.

Second was Tokyo’s Takeshi Kawamoto with Szebasztian Szabo, the Match 2 winner, in third place for Aqua Centurions.

Women’s 200 Backstroke

With all eyes on Toronto Titans captain Kylie Masse, teammate Lisa Bratton stole the show in a 1-2 finish. Bratton got the win, the quickest time in ISL this season at 2:01.74. Masse was second with Rio Shirai third. That’s 19 points for the Titans to vault them into first.

Men’s 200 Backstroke

Ryan Murphy took care of business again, going 1:48.40 to win by more than a second, reclaiming the ISL record he set last year and lost to Radoslaw Kawecki. He picked up 24 points via the jackpot, with only the top three swimmers scoring.

“We’re coming out here this meet, trying to be really competitive,” Murphy said on the broadcast. “I think it’s going to be a close meet and every point matters.”

Second was Ryosuke Irie for Tokyo, with teammate Markus Thormeyer third.

Women’s 200 Breaststroke

Kelsey Wog, second at the ISL final in 2019 for the Cali Condors, was victorious in her Toronto debut, taking the win in 2:17.51. It’s the second quickest time this season, .40 behind Lilly King. Second was Tokyo’s Sakiko Shimizu, and Jocelyn Ulyett was third for the Titans. That’s 16 points for Toronto.

Men’s 200 Breaststroke

Anton McKee pulled a surprise for the Titans, dominating the second 100 to get the victory in 2:01.73. That’s an ISL record, taking down the time set by Marco Kock in Match 1 (2:02.12). It’s also the eighth-fastest time in history.

Third was his teammate Erik Persson. The haul of 16 points vaults the Titans into the lead. The Frog Kings set the pace early but settled for second and fifth, Shoma Sato getting second.

Women’s 4×100 Free Relay

Beryl Gastaldello brought home the LA Current with their first women’s relay win, joining Anastasia Gorbenko, Andi Murez and Abbey Weitzeil in the win in 3:30.10. By finishing first and fourth, that’s 28 points for the Current.

Second was the Toronto Titans (Anika Apostolon, Michelle Coleman, Rebecca Smith and Louise Hansson) with Tokyo (Rio Shirai, Catherine DeLoof, Tomomi Aoki, Aya Sato) third.

Men’s 50 Free

The Frog Kings have been in strong position without winning an event, but they played their trump card in the 50 with Vladimir Morozov. He wasn’t his fastest at 20.98 in his first race since January, but he got his hand to the wall .06 ahead of Kristian Gkolomeev of Aqua Centurions. Tokyo teammate Bruno Fratus was third, a 15-point haul for Tokyo.

Women’s 50 Free

Instead of a 1-2, LA Current tied for first place in the 50, with Beryl Gastaldello and Abbey Weitzeil each going 23.79 to get the victory. It’s 22 points for the Current. For Weitziel, the time is a lifetime best.

Third was Tokyo’s Michelle Coleman, who weathered a late start and a long finish into the wall.

Men’s 200 IM

In his ISL debut, Kosuke Hagino spoiled the duel between the winners of the first two matches. Hagino clocked in at 1:53.01, using his backstroke leg to hold off Match 1 winner Andrew Seliskar (1:53.44) of the Current. Philip Heintz, who won Match 2 for Aqua Centurions, was third in 1:54.15, also slower than his first swim.

Women’s 200 IM

Yui Ohashi kept up her strong form from the Japanese short-course championships, clocking in at 2:05.13 to get the win. It’s barely a half-second outside Melanie Margalis’ ISL record from Week 1. Second was Anastasia Gorbenko of the LA Current 1.73 seconds back. Kelsey Wog was third for the Titans.

Men’s 50 Breast

Nicolo Martinenghi got Aqua Centurions on the board with their first victory, going 26.06. Teammate Fabio Scozzoli was fourth, AC yielding 14 points in a non-jackpot-timed event. Anton McKee scored points for Toronto in second, with Felipe Silva third for the Current.

Women’s 50 Breast

Martina Carraro made it an Aqua Centurions sweep, going 29.66 to take the win and steal points, 12 in total. Second was Jhennifer Conceicao for Toronto with Reona Aoki third for the Frog Kings. The Current took just three points, with Kierra Smith last in the race after an unexpectedly slow start.

Men’s 4×100 Freestyle

Despite a juggled relay, Aqua Centurions got the win again in the men’s relay, Alessandro Miressi holding off Maxime Rooney’s bid down the stretch to get AC its third straight victory and set an ISL record. The Aqua Centurions team of Pedro Spajari, Marcelo Chierighini and Szebasztian Szabo finished in 3:04.93. With the fifth-place finish, it’s a 28-point haul for AC.

The Current (Marco Ferreira, Tom Shields, Kristian Gkolomeev, Rooney) settled for second. Brent Hayden, in his first ISL race, brought home the Titans in third with the team of Michael Chadwick, Blake Pieroni and Yuri Kisil.

Women’s 50 Backstroke

Beryl Gastaldello got to the wall first in a race where the first five places were separated by 0.22. Etiene Medeiros was second with Natsumi Sakai third and Kylie Masse fourth. Gastaldello clocked in at 26.52 seconds.

Men’s 50 Backstroke

Shane Ryan pulled off a huge surprise, tying Ryan Murphy for the victory. The duo bot hit at 23.06 seconds. It’s slightly slower than the 22.99 that Murphy turned in in the first match.

With Sergey Fesikov fourth, the Titans get valuable points (and perhaps offer some doubt if the Current win the medley relay and pick the skins). Third was Takeshi Kawamoto just a tenth back.

Women’s 400 Freestyle

Leah Smith, the former LA Current swimmer, showed her former team what they’re missing, in the process applying some pressure in the team standings. Smith got her first win in a runaway finish for Tokyo, clocking in at 4:00.55 for 15 points and a total of 21 for the Frog Kings.

Anna Egorova of the Titans went from fourth to second on the last 50 to sneak into second and spoil a Frog Kings 1-2, sending Chihiro Igarashi to third. After an opening race win, Valentine Dumont of Aqua Centurions was fourth, four seconds slower than the opening weekend.

Men’s 400 Freestyle

Mykhaylo Romanchuk held off a charge late from Alexander Krasnykh to lead Aqua Centurions to another victory. The spread was 0.34 seconds, Romanchuk hitting the wall in 3:40.08. Tokyo’s Katsuhiro Matsumoto was third.

Women’s 4×100 Medley Relay

Abbey Weitzeil held off a charge from Toronto’s Michelle Coleman on the anchor leg to get the LA Current the win and the control of the skins race. The win came, though, on Ali DeLoof’s opening leg, the Current first with DeLoof outsplitting Kylie Masse of Toronto. The squad of DeLoof, Anastasia Gorbenko, Beryl Gastaldello and Weitzeil went 3:50.05.

The Titans (Masse, Kelsey Wog, Louise Hansson, Coleman) finished second, Hasnson’s 56.41 split the standout. Tokyo was third and fourth to yield 22 points, only six fewer than the Current.

On the broadcast, LA Current head coach David Marsh was cage about where he’d go with skins. Gastaldello is the card to play, and she’s an adept sprinter all around.

Men’s 4×100 Medley Relay

Maxime Rooney spoiled the party on the anchor leg, holding off Vladimir Morozov to give the LA Current another victory. It was a 46.20 for Rooney after Tom Shields went 48.76 in fly. Ryan Murphy and Felipe Lima, promoted to the A relay, rounded out the time of 3:21.85 that finished out front by .98. It’s the fastest time of the season, more than a second ahead of the London Roar’s time and within six-tenths of the ISL record.

Tokyo was second, the team of Ryosuke Irie, Yasuhiro Koseki, Takeshi Kawamoto and Morozov. Aqua Centurions finished third.

That leaves the scores after Day 1 of ISL Match 3:

  1. LA Current 262.5
  2. Tokyo Frog Kings 248.5
  3. Toronto Titans 208.5
  4. Aqua Centurions 156.5

MVP Standings After Day 1

  1. Ryan Murphy, LA Current 37
  2. Beryl Gastaldello, LA Current 30.5
  3. Abbey Weitzeil, LA Current 20.5
  4. Szebasztian Szabo, Aqua Centurions 20.0
  5. Kelsey Wog, Toronto Titans 19.5
  6. Anton McKee, Toronto Titans 19.5
  7. Martina Carraro, Aqua Centurions 18.0
  8. Tom Shields, LA Current 18.0
  9. Louis Hansson, Toronto Titans 17.0
  10. Yui Ohashi, Tokyo Frog Kings 17.0
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