2021 ISL Playoffs Match 5: Day 2 Live Recap

2021 INTERNATIONAL SWIMMING LEAGUE – SEASON 3, MATCH 16 – PLAYOFFS MATCH 5

• Thursday, November 25th – Friday, November 26th
• 8:00 pm – 10:00 pm local time; 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm EST
• Pieter van den Hoogenband Zwemstadion, Eindhoven, Netherlands
• Short Course Meters (25m – SCM) Format
• ISL Season 3 Schedules, Start Times, & More
• Live Results
• Teams Competing: Energy Standard, London Roar, LA Current, DC Trident
• Day 1 Start Lists
• Day 2 Start Lists

LANE ASSIGNMENTS

• Lanes 1 & 2: LA Current
• Lanes 3 & 4: London Roar
• Lanes 5 & 6: Energy Standard
• Lanes 7 & 8: DC Trident

The London Roar established a 16-point lead over Energy Standard as the first day of the penultimate match of the 2021 ISL playoffs ended. The LA Current sits in 3rd, just 42.5 points behind Energy Standard, while the DC Trident bring up 4th with 141.5 points. Both skins races today will be backstroke, neither of which was chosen by the LA Current but a fact that benefits them greatly, especially in the men’s skins, thanks to Ryan Murphy, who lowered his own American and ISL Records in the 50 backstroke on Thursday.

TEAM SCORES – DAY 1:

1. London Roar – 280 points
2. Energy Standard – 264 points
3. LA Current – 221.5 points
4. DC Trident – 141.5 points

Women’s 100 Freestyle

Siobhan Haughey blasted to an early lead at 50 meters, turning in 24.62, nearly a body-length ahead of her nearest competitor, Femke Heemskerk. Haughey extended her lead over Heemskerk on the final 50 meters, while LA’s Madison Wilson surged to overtake Heemskerk. Haughey touched the wall in 51.13, jackpotting London’s Marie Wattel and DC’s Annika Bruhn, for a total of 12 points.

Men’s 100 Freestyle

Kyle Chalmers didn’t quite manage a jackpot, though his 1-2 finish with teammate Dylan Carter brings in 16 points for the London Roar. Though Chalmers was fastest at 50 meters, turning in 21.98, Carter kept it close the whole way and had a slightly faster second 50 than Chalmers. Energy Standard finishes 3rd and 8th in this race. The DC Trident comes out with 8 points in this race, equaling the LA Current in this event.

Team Points Update

1. London Roar – 300 points
2. Energy Standard – 289 points
3. LA Current – 238.5 points
4. DC Trident – 153.5 points

Women’s 200 Butterfly

London’s Ilaria Bianchi led from start to finish in the women’s 200 fly, getting the win in 2:06.33. London teammate Laura Lahtinen placed 5th to give London a total of 13 points in the race. DC Trident did well to place 3rd and 4th in the race to claim a total of 11 points. DC’s Szuszanna Jakabos sat in the 2nd position for most of the race though she was rund down by Energy Standard’s Helena Rosendahl Bach in the final 50. The LA Current claim the fewest points of any team in this race with just 5 while Energy Standard earns 8 points.

Men’s 200 Butterfly

The LA Current went with a somewhat experimental lineup, leaving out Tom Shields and opting for Tomoe Hvas and Hector Cruz instead. Hvas, who swims this race regularly, was the early leader and looked dominant throughout the first 150 meters, though he was ultimately chased down by London’s Teppei Morimoto, Energy Standard veteran Chad le Clos, and DC Trident back-half specialist Zach Harting. Morimoto was in 4th at the 150-meter mark and then produced a massive underwater, reminiscent of le Clos or Shields, to burst ahead of the field on the final 25 and surge into the wall for the win. Morimoto jackpots DC’s Velimir Stjepanovic and LA’s Cruz, earning 12 points which, combined with teammate Vini Lanza makes for a haul of 15 points.

Women’s 100 Backstroke

LA’s Ingrid Wilm blasted it out fast, turning in 27.06, and though it looked like she might get chased down in the final 25 by London’s Kira Toussaint she managed to hang on and get the victory by 0.08 over Toussaint. The narrow margin of victory was exactly what LA needed as it comes in as a 15-point jackpot for LA, stealing the points from Energy Standard’s Georgia Davies, DC’s Isabella Hindley and teammate Alyssa Marsh.

Men’s 100 Backstroke

LA’s Ryan Murphy exploded off the wall with a 0.49 reaction time and looked great off the walls. Murphy was in command of the field for the first 85 meters of the race but was ultimately run down by DC’s Mark Nikolaev who earned the Trident’s first win of the match, resulting in a 12-point haul for DC. Energy’s Evgeny Rylov, who sat out the first day of the meet, placed 3rd in 50.11, sandwiched between LA’s Murphy and Apostolos Christou.

Women’s 100 IM

Sarah Sjostrom was dominant in the women’s 100 IM, though LA’s Abbey Weitzeil, who did not swim the 100 freestyle earlier, nearly caught Sjostrom in the 2nd 50 meters thanks to great breaststroke and freestyle splits. Weitzeil got the better of Energy Standard’s Mary-Sophie Harvey and London’s Sydney Pickrem, two of the league’s best IM’ers. Sjostrom hauls in 12 points which, combined with teammate Harvey, result in an 18-point haul for Energy Standard.

Men’s 100 IM

Kliment Kolesnikov was out fast in a 23.14 and maintained the lead over the final 50 to win in 51.51, just edging out London’s Duncan Scott who touched in 51.78, shaving 0.04 off of his own British Record. Three swimmers, Luke Greenbank, Camden Murphy, and Jay Litherland, all failed to meet the minim time standard and were therefore jackpotted and deducted 1 point each, giving 15 points to Kolesnikov.

Team Points Update

1. London Roar/Energy Standard – 358 points
2. —
3. LA Current – 296.5 points
4. DC Trident – 187.5 points

Women’s 100 Breaststroke

Alia Atkinson charged out from the beginning and held on to the win with a 1:04.38, the only swimmer to break 1:05. LA was strong in a race where they often struggle, with Anastasia Gorbenko and Imogen Clark placing 2nd and 4th. Energy Standard comes away with just 6 points in this race while London earns 12 points.

Men’s 100 Breaststroke

Ilya Shymanovich and Felipe Lima turned the tables on the entire meet, hauling in 37 points–all the available points–dealing a heavy blow to London Roar. Shymanovich lowers his own week-old World Record by 0.04, touching the wall in 55.28. Lima barely escapes the jackpot, touching in 57.34. London and LA are both deducted 1 point for swimmers failing to meet the minimum time standard.

Women’s 50 Butterfly

Sarah Sjostrom dominated the women’s 50 butterfly to give Energy Standard another big influx of points. Coupled with Maddie Banic‘s 2nd-place finish, Energy Standard comes away with 22 points in this race versus the London Roar who comes away with only 5 points, one of which they will surrender due to Ilaria Bianchi, the 200 fly champion from earlier, failing to meet the minimum time standard.

Men’s 50 Butterfly

London’s Dylan Carter looked like he might get his first ISL victory but he was run down by LA’s Tom Shields and Energy’s Ben Proud in the final meters, ultimately finishing 3rd. Tom Shields wins in 22.15, about 2/10ths off his American Record.

Team Points Update

1. Energy Standard – 430 points
2. London Roar – 383 points
3. LA Current – 324.5 points
4. DC Trident – 207.5 points

Women’s 200 Freestyle

Siobhan Haughey was on the hunt for the World Record in the women’s 200 freestyle. Though she fell just short she broke her own Asian and ISL Records by 0.01, set just last week, with a 1:50.65, the 2nd-fastest performance in history. DC’s Joanna Evans swam strong and finished in 1:54.36 to earn the Trident 7 points. Haughey, meanwhile, earns 30 points, stealing the points from 6 of the other swimmers in the field. There is now little doubt that Energy Standard will win this match.

Men’s 200 Freestyle

DC’s Aleksandr Shchegolev went out fast and held onto his lead to win the men’s 200 freestyle in 1:41.72. Shchegolev jackpots his teammate, Zane Grothe, for a total 10-point haul for the Trident. The LA Current finished strong with 3rd- and 4th-place finishes for a total of 11 points, the most in the field.

Mixed 4 x 100 Medley Relay

Energy Standard was characteristically dominant in the mixed medley relay. Notably, Ilya Shymanovich blasted a 55.15 breaststroke split, slightly off his 55.00 from the men’s medley relay yesterday, but still the 3rd-fastest split all-time (unofficially), behind only his own swim Thursday and Adam Peaty‘s 54.84 from ISL season 2. Tom Shields produced the fastest fly leg in the field by nearly a second with a 49.06, just off what he did in the individual 100 fly on Thursday (48.99). No swimmer broke 50 in the lead-off leg, nor did any swimmer break 51 on the anchor leg, save for the LA Current’s Brett Pinfold who posted a quick 46.37. Pinfold, however, was the only male freestyler in the field. Energy Standard ends up with 38 points total in the race while the London Roar gets 22 points, the LA Current 14 points, and the DC Trident 0 points in the mixed medley relay.

Women’s 400 IM

London’s Sydney Pickrem claimed a massive 2-second victory in the women’s 400 IM and earned a total of 21 points for the Roar. Teammate Katie Shanahan managed to place 5th but having turned 2nd at the 200-meter mark she claims a total of 8 points. In total, London earns 29 points in this race. The DC Trident made some noise with 2nd- and 4th-place finishes for a total of 17 points while both swimmers from the LA Current see their points stolen by Pickrem.

Men’s 400 IM

Duncan Scott brought another dominant performance to the men’s 400 IM, pulling in a total of 22 points. Scott led the entire way, save for the 1st 50 where he was 2nd to LA Javier Acevedo, who would ultimately fade to 7th. London’s Tom Dean managed a 5th-place finish earning 4 points to bring London’s total to 26 points. Jay Litherland and Tommy Cope produced 3rd- and 4th-place finishes, respectively, earning DC a much-needed 17 points. Similar to the women’s 400 IM moments earlier, the LA Current scores 0 points in this race.

Women’s 50 Backstroke Skins

Quarter-Final

Ingrid Wilm brought her characteristic early speedo to win the first round of the backstroke skins. Kira Toussaint finished 2nd while both swimmers from the DC Trident, Linnea Mack and Ali DeLoof, also advance, playing somewhat of a spoiler role for London’s Minna Atherton who finishes 5th. No swimmers from Energy Standard will advance, though due to DC’s double in the first round, Energy Standard is now almost certainly going to be the winner of this match.

Semi-Final

Ingrid Wilm stayed strong and won the 2nd round of the skins, getting to the wall again ahead of London’s Kira Toussaint. Both Mack and DeLoof are out for the DC Trident.

Final

Ingrid Wilm made it 3-for-3 in the skins, claiming the 14 points in the final round. Toussaint avoids a jackpot and pulls in 7 points for the Roar, though the Roar remains 35 points behind Energy Standard.

Men’s 50 Backstroke Skins

Quarter-Final

London Roar is now shut out and the match win will go to Energy Standard. Ryan Murphy of the LA Current claims the first round win with Mark Nikolaev just behind. Energy Standard advances Russian duo Kliment Kolesnikov and Evgeny Rylov.

Semi-Final

Ryan Murphy exploded off the start with a 0.46 reaction time, though was slightly long on the turn. Murphy, Rylov, and Kolesnikov were neck-and-neck through the final meters of the 2nd round, though it was Evgeny Rylov who got his hand on the wall first. Murphy and Rylov advance to the final round.

Final

Ryan Murphy finishes the skins with a victory in the final round, just edging Rylov. The LA Current will finish 3rd in this match, most likely well enough to advance to the league final but with one match remaining, it is not official.

Final Team Standings

1. Energy Standard – 561.5 points
2. London Roar – 498.5 points
3. LA Current – 415.5 points
4. DC Trident – 289.5 points