2020 ISL Match 2 – Day 2 Live Recap

2020 INTERNATIONAL SWIMMING LEAGUE: MATCH 2

• Sunday, October 18: 6 PM – 8 PM Local Time (12 noon – 2 PM U.S. Eastern, 1 AM- 3 AM J+1 Japan)
• Monday, October 19: 4 PM – 6 PM Local Time (10 AM – 12 PM U.S. Eastern, 11 PM – 1 AM Japan Time)
• Duna Arena – Budapest, Hungary
• Short Course Meters (SCM) Format
• 2020 ISL Scoring Format
• 2020 ISL Prize Money and Bonuses
• How To Watch
• 2020 ISL Match 2 Full Results
• Teams: London Roar, DC Trident, Aqua Centurions, Iron

After 20 of 39 events from day 1 of this International Swimming League (ISL) match 2, here are how the points shakeout among the 4 teams competing here in Budapest:

Follow along for live results and analysis for ISL Season 2 Match 2 below:

Recap: Retta Race, Analysis: Jared Anderson

START LISTS

LANES

• 1 & 2 – DC Trident
• 3 & 4 – London Roar
• 5 & 6 – Iron
• 7 & 8 – Aqua Centurions

DAY 2 EVENTS

WOMEN’S 100 FREE

Kromowidjojo keeps the Iron sprint streak alive – they swept the 50 frees yesterday, and today get a win in the 100 free. Kromo managed one jackpot, but it was on her teammate Melanie Henique and didn’t affect the team scores at all. Anna Hopkin torched the front half, going out in 24.89 – that’s faster than she was in the individual 50 yesterday.

MEN’S 100 FREE

Zach Apple crushed a 45.7 for a massive DC Trident win. That’s actually a tenth faster than Caeleb Dressel was in winning the first match on Saturday. Only Dressel and Kyle Chalmers went faster than 45.7 in the ISL last season. Just like Kromowidjojo, his jackpot is dulled a little because his own teammate was 8th, but Apple also jackpotted London’s second entrant. Of note: the Aqua Centurions were 2nd and 3rd as their male sprinters appear to be a major strength for the team.

Taking 3rd in the race was Szebasztian Szabo of the Centurions, snagging a time of 46.63. That’s a huge PB for the Hungarian whose career-fastest entering this meet was 47.31 from the 2019 Pro Swim Series. He’s inching along towards the national record of 46.50 on his way to proving he’s more than just a 50 flyer.

WOMEN’S 200 FLY

With the team scores incredibly close from 2nd to 4th, this was a big win for Iron. Hosszu was patient in this one and took over late to win by almost a full second. She pulled the jackpot over Aqua Centurion Tain Bruce. Iron was in the hunt for a 1-2 at one point, but Maria Ugolkova dropped off to 6th late.  Still, Iron leapfrogs the Aqua Centurions for second in team points, while DC has started to close on both teams with a 2-4 finish.

World Junior Champion in this event from 2017, Emily Large, scored 6 points in her 200 fly debut for London Roar ahead of veteran teammate Aimee Willmott.

MEN’S 200 FLY

It’s an exclamation point of a finish here for London, with Vini Lanza blasting a 1:51.75 to win his first-ever ISL event. That time would have been inside the top 10 performances in the ISL last season. London went 1st and 3rd, with Andreas Vazaios coming within hundredths of beating Brazilian 200 fly specialist Leonardo de Deus of the Aqua Centurions. Iron was sorely missing Kristof Milak here. The long course world record-holder bowed out of the league while recovering from COVID, and Iron was just 5th and 7th here.

WOMEN’S 100 BACK

No Minna Atherton, no problem. London lost last year’s league-best backstroker and still went 1-2 in this race. Kira Toussaint was a clutch free agency pickup to cover for Atherton’s absence, and she went 56.24 here. That’s faster than anyone but Olivia Smoliga in the first meet this weekend. Kathleen Dawson was second for London, and Toussaint jackpotted the bottom four for a huge point swing in favor of the Roar. Yesterday’s 200 back winner Amy Bilquist was third in a nice swim for DC.

Dawson snagging 7 points for Roar was another nice pick-up, as the Scot had battled injuries earlier this year. She put up a couple of sub-minute LCM 100 backstrokes pre-coronavirus pandemic giving us a sign she is coming back to form.

MEN’S 100 BACK

London has been dominant in backstroke, winning all three men’s races and two of the three women’s events. Guido jumps in for his first win of this season, though he won plenty last year. His teammate Diener won the 50 and 200 backs yesterday, but Guido pulled off the 100 today. Guido pulls off some key jackpot points, and London has pretty well wrapped up this meet, though things remain exciting in the battle between the other three teams. Most of these top backstrokers will have to quickly turn around, though, for the all-important 50 back skin race later in the session.

Iron’s Guilherme Basseto is breaking through as a member of Iron, snagging 2nd place here after already taking 3rd in the 50m yesterday. The Brazilian was jackpotted in the 200 back yesterday but the sprints seem to be this Brazilian’s forte for the ISL.

WOMEN’S 100 IM

London goes 1-2 for a second-straight race as this second meet is looking more and more lopsided. Kameneva is a new addition for London, and won this race by a tenth over breaststroke star Atkinson. But the field was definitely weaker than in match 1, where Kameneva would have only been 6th overall. It was a pretty breaststroke-heavy field, with a good number of primary breaststrokers added, to mixed results. That may have to do with the event lineup – breaststroke is the only stroke without an individual event in this session, and that might make breaststrokers a popular 100 IM entry for much of this season.

MEN’S 100 IM

Orsi was the Short Course Worlds silver medalist in the 100 IM, and he’s going to be a force in this event this year. Orsi was 51.69 – that’s faster than everyone except Caeleb Dressel in the ISL season opener. He doesn’t get much of a jackpot boost, though, only stealing the points of his own teammate, 8th-place Yakov Toumarkin. The 100 IM’s close proximity to the 200 fly stung a few top contenders here, most notably 200 fly winner Vini Lanza for London, who was just 7th here. His teammate Andreas Vazaios managed second here, though, and was also coming off of the 200 fly.

WOMEN’S 200 FREE

London is on fire – it’s another win and a 1-4 finish here behind Marie Wattel. She was 1:54.65, which would have been 4th in the other match this weekend. Wattel jackpots two swimmers, and the 7th (Aqua’s Greenslade) and 8th (DC’s Gingrich) place finishers both missed the cutoff time and lost further points. Iron’s Andrusenko pulled solid second-place points, and Ustinova just avoided getting jackpotted, though she also missed the cutoff time and will lose a point.

Following up on her 400 free victory in a new Belgian record from day 1, Valentine Dumont captured 6 points for 3rd place here for the Aqua Centurions.

Of note, London Roar’s Freya Anderson, the reigning European Short Course champion, was not in the race due to having been quarantined pre-travel. Read more on that here.

MEN’S 200 FREE

Duncan Scott grabbed his first ISL win in the 200 free, just barely holding off DC’s Zach Apple. Apple, the 100 free champ, closed hard and came within two tenths of Scott while hitting a career-best. But Scott’s 1:42.74 was the top swim – that’s a great time that would have been the 8th-best swim in the entire ISL last year. It’s also right in line with the winning 1:42.55 from the other ISL meet this weekend. In team points, Iron had started to separate a little in the battle for second, but got jackpotted here and Aqua Climbed to within 12 points. Those three teams will almost-certainly come down to the skin races later today.

WOMEN’S 50 FLY

It’s a huge 1-2 punch for Iron. We had projected Kromowidjojo and Henique as two of the top 50 flyers in the entire league, and they torched this field for a jackpot windfall. Kromowidjojo broke the ISL record in 24.74, shaving a hundredth off of Beryl Gastaldello’s swim from Saturday. Kromowidjojo jackpotted everyone from 4th place through 8th place in the biggest jackpot we’ve seen yet in the ISL, outside of the skin races. That’s going to vault Iron solidly into second as we start to tick closer to the meet’s final session.

MEN’S 50 FLY

The Aqua Centurions are in a tight battle for 3rd, and Szabo’s win comes up huge for them. Szabo went 22.00 for the fastest swim in ISL history – that’s six one-hundredths better than Dressel was last year, and almost a half-second faster than Dressel was on Saturday for the Cali Condors. The Centurions earn a 24 massive points and open up a 15-point lead over DC in the race for third. World record-holder Santos was second for Iron at age 40, and they stay ahead of the Aqua Centurions for the time being. DC was 7th and 8th and took a big hit with both men getting jackpotted out of points.

Szabo, the former Serbian national, also logged a new Hungarian national record with that swim, beating his own 22.13 from ISL season 1. 19 points is what he reaped for the Aqua Centurions, so slightly less than Kromo’s major haul, but still a big points grab.

WOMEN’S 100 BREAST

Atkinson has been dominant in sprint breaststroke, and she pulled this one out even coming off the 100 IM not too long ago. Atkinson was 1:04.21, timing her finish perfectly even as the field closed on her late. The Aqua Centurions have been able to rely on their breaststrokers, and they go 2-3 here with Carraro almost running down Atkinson. Fourth-place Lindsay Kozelsky was a nice surprise for DC – she was an NCAA standout in yards and a great breaststroke speedster. Kozelsky went 1:04.70 here and should be a solid piece for DC to build around. DC’s other NCAA pickup, Miranda Tucker, was 8th, though, and got jackpotted. 

MEN’S 100 BREAST

It was another close one here, as Adam Peaty held off the field for a win. Peaty lost the 50 breast yesterday and hasn’t been as dominant in the short course meters ISL as many expected based on how unbeatable Peaty is in the Olympic-distance long course meters. Peaty was 56.38, a solid swim that would have ranked inside the top 10 swims of last season and not far off his league-leading 55.9 from last year. Prigoda was 4th as London continues to look like a postseason contender even without their strong Australian group. The Aqua Centurions are probably a little disappointed with a 2-5 showing in one of their best events. But they do still lead DC by 37 in the battle for 3rd. Iron has taken over second with a 16-point lead over the Aqua Centurions.

Peaty said after the race, “It’s about how fast you can get at the end [of the season].”

MIXED 4×100 FREESTYLE RELAY

It was a thriller in this mixed free relay. The DC Trident jumped out to a big lead on Zach Apple‘s 45.98 leadoff. Apple is thriving in the spotlight and has to be enjoying swimming a meet without Dressel’s massive shadow obscuring all other sprinters. Apple was sub-46 for the second time today – last year, only two men broke 46 across the whole season: Dressel (five times) and Chalmers (twice).

DC also got a 52.7 from Margo Geer and a clutch 53.1 anchor from ISL rookie Ky-Lee Perry. London was second with a pair of 52.05 splits from their women: Anna Hopkin and Marie Wattel. The Aqua Centurions won the men’s free relay yesterday, and a massive 45.7 split from Alessandro Miressi powered them to third.

DC’s win was important as the field had started to pull away, but the Aqua Centurions showed off their depth and went 3rd-4th to match DC’s points swing here. That leaves the Aqua Centurions 37 points ahead of DC with just four events remaining. Meanwhile Iron is only 8 points ahead of the Aqua Centurions in the battle for second.

WOMEN’S 400 IM

Katinka Hosszu remains undefeated in the 400 IM in ISL history. The Iron lady cruised to a win here, though here time of 4:30.52 was well behind the winner from match #1 (Melanie Margalis in 4:25.48). Hosszu did manage to jackpot both of the Aqua Centurions in this race.

Aqua put Valentine Dumont into this event after she swam the mixed free relay, and it didn’t go well – she was 8th and more than eight seconds behind the jackpot line. London also used Sydney Pickrem here after she swam the relay, and she struggled to a 5th-place finish. DC needs to be perfect in the final four events to pass up Aqua, and things went well here with a 2-4 finish. Bailey Andison almost ran down Hosszu for the win.

MEN’S 400 IM

Iron’s whole persona is built around toughness, so it’s fitting that they sweep both 400 IMs. For the men, it was a 1-2 punch with David Verraszto going 4:04.25 and Leonardo Santos cruising into second. That’s going to put Iron in great shape to hold second place, though the skin races will still be the clear decider. Verraszto was faster than match 1 winner Max Litchfield (4:04.50), and would have been just inside the top 10 swims in the league last season.

WOMEN’S 50 BACK SKINS

ROUND 1: Toussaint (LON), Kromowidjojo (IRO), Kameneva (LON), Mack (DCT) continue on

London picked backstroke, and Toussaint validated that decision with a much better opening swim (25.75) than she had in the individual 50 back yesterday (26.60 for third). London advanced two into the fop four with Kameneva third. DC helps their cause against Aqua with Linnea Mack taking second, and Kromowidjojo advances for Iron.

ROUND 2: Mack (DCT) and Kameneva (LON) continue on

Linnea Mack won the 50 back yesterday and paced out this skin race perfectly. She was second in the opening round, but saved enough energy to win the second round and knock out Toussaint, who was arguably the favorite. London still gets one into the final with Kameneva, but Mack’s big swim here is going to be a massive swing for DC. The Trident need to chase down Aqua, which took just 5th and 8th for a total of 4 points in the opening round.

ROUND 3: Kameneva (LON) takes the win

We had a different winner every round, with Kameneva rising to beat Mack in the final. Mack went out fast, but seemed to hold her underwaters a tick too long. The oxygen debt added up and Kameneva surged by Mack in the final 25. London gets the win, even if it’s not the swimmer we expected. Mack’s big-time swimming puts DC into third place by a narrow four-point margin. London and Iron are pretty much locked into first and second, respectively.

MEN’S 50 BACK SKINS

ROUND 1: Guido (LON), Nikolaev (DCT), Basseto (IRO), Diener (LON) move on

London’s duo was pretty widely expected to move on, and they did so easily. Guido took the win and stole a handful of jackpot points, while Diener just scraped by in 4th. Diener won the individual 50 back, so there might be some teamwork going on here: Guido could push the pace in the opening rounds to secure jackpot points, while Diener saves his legs to go after the big points for winning the final. It’s the same top 4 as the individual 50 back, with Iron’s Basseto and DC’s Nikolaev moving on. That should pretty well seal third place for DC, as Aqua will score only a few points in this event.

ROUND 2: Guido (LON) and Diener (LON) move on

London will stack the final as Diener just outlasted Basseto by .04 seconds. That’s the cherry on top of a dominating team win for London, though the results have shown that match 1 clearly had the tougher team field overall. Guido and Diener get to rematch their individual 50 back in the final with no real team point implications – though their finishes will affect MVP points and prize money.

ROUND 3 Diener (LON) takes the win

Guido led the two opening rounds, but perhaps it was some teamwork and/or gamesmanship, because Diener took over to win the final round over his teammate. London sweeps major points here, and their decision to pick both backstroke skin races is thoroughly validated. London still may pick breaststroke down the road, but the specific team groupings in this first round left pretty much all the top backstroke contenders in the other group (Manaudou, Murphy, Kolesnikov, Waddell) or on a bye week (Ryan, Fesikov).

FINAL POINTS AFTER DAY 2