5 Big Things From ISL Match #6

2020 INTERNATIONAL SWIMMING LEAGUE – MATCH 6

• Sunday, November 1st: 6-8pm CET/11-1pm U.S. Central
• Monday, November 2nd: 4-6pm CET/9-11am U.S. Central
• Duna Arena – Budapest, Hungary
• Short Course Meters (SCM) format
• ISL Technical Handbook
• 2020 ISL Scoring Format
• 2020 ISL Prize Money and Bonuses
• How To Watch
• Omega Results 
• Full results
• Teams: Energy Standard/Aqua Centurions/New York Breakers/Toronto Titans

1. Sjostrom’s absence allows Shkurdia & Banic to Rise

We see it across sports all the time: an established star sidelined due to injury can often be an opening for a new star to rise.

Energy Standard was swimming without reigning league MVP Sarah Sjostrom today – she’s dealing with back pain, though she said on the broadcast that she hoped to be back in the mix for week 4. Her absence, though, created an opening for Energy Standard to find two new young swimmers rising up the ranks.

17-year-old Anastasiya Shkurdai filled in for Sjostrom in the 100 fly on day 1, not only winning in Sjostrom’s absence but besting Sjostrom’s season-best and taking over the ISL lead. On day 2, Shkurdai took over the 100 IM for Sjostrom, going 58.34 for a key Energy Standard win. She’s just six tenths off of Sjostrom’s ISL record there.

And in the 50 fly, free agent signee Maddy Banic exploded for a 24.97 win. That’s faster than Sjostrom’s best time this year, and moves Banic to #4 in the ISL this season. Banic was also second in yesterday’s 100 fly and sits #2 in the entire league behind Shkurdai for the season.

Banic didn’t even get to swim individually in week 1. But given an opportunity in week 3, she’s made a strong case to be a regular in the lineup moving forward.

2. Free Agents Szabo, Haughey & Ryan Making Most of New Settings

We saw three free agent additions stand out for their respective teams today, showing the importance of off-season personnel moves in the budding league.

Szebaztian Szabo was a standout for Iron last year, but he’s been a game-changer for the Aqua Centurions in 2020. Unbeaten in the 50 fly last year, Szabo has won three more 50 fly races this year to remain undefeated for his career. Szabo also came within one round of winning the 50 free skins today, and finished the meet tied for #2 in overall MVP points.

He’s the highest individual scorer in the league so far this year who has not won an individual meet MVP title. Szabo sits #3 across the entire league in scoring, though Aqua has the advantage of swimming three meets so far compared to just two for a number of the league’s teams with an earlier bye week.

Meanwhile Siobhan Haughey was the top swimmer for the DC Trident last year, going 3-for-3 in the 200 free and placing 30th in the league in MVP points despite not getting to swim in the final. She’s stepped up her game even further for Energy Standard, winning today’s MVP title without even competing in the skins. Haughey is undefeated in two 200 frees so far this year and swimming inside the top 10 in series MVP points with just two meets swum.

Shane Ryan swam just one meet for the LA Current last year, and it wasn’t a great showing. In the U.S. Derby, Ryan took two DQs in four races and scored just ten points. He led off a medley relay that DQ’d on the back-to-breast exchange, then took a DQ in the 50 back. He would later swim on a second-place 400 free relay and take second in the 100 back.

But this year, Ryan has been on a whole different level for Toronto. He went 50.45 for a key 100 back win today after winning the 50 back earlier in the meet. His 50 fly late in the meet today broke an Irish record, though he was just 7th overall. He was a big reason why Toronto clearly bested New York for second place and should now pretty much be locked into a post-season berth as one of the league’s top 8 teams.

3. Kapas & Chimrova Break Through For NY

The Breakers got a breakthrough from Boglarka Kapas and Svetlana Chimrova in the 200 fly. They’ve been on the cusp of a breakout win for awhile now.

Chimrova was second in the season opener to Hali Flickinger, who has never lost a 200 fly in the ISL. The next week, Chimrova was once again second to Flickinger and Kapas moved up to 4th overall.

This time around, the duo torched the field in the back half for a 1-2 finish, a huge points boost to New York. They sit #4 and #5 in the league this year in the 200 fly and should be a match for any team besides Flickinger’s Condors and the Tokyo Frog Kings, who have two of the league’s top three swimmers in the event.

4. Toronto Backstrokers Carry Titans

We mentioned Shane Ryan, but the Toronto Titans really got the most out of their women’s backstrokers.

Kylie Masse could have been mentioned above as another dominating free agent acquisition. She scored triple-digit individual points across last season for the Cali Condors, but already has 88 through two matches this year for the expansion franchise Titans.

This week, Masse swept the 50 back and 100 back while taking second in a 1-2 Titans finish in the 200 back behind teammate Lisa Bratton. Masse also staked the Titans to a 0.8-second lead in the medley relay as the team won by 0.4 yesterday. And with that win, the Titans were able to pick backstroke for the skins, allowing Masse to win all three rounds and nab 38 points, six of them from jackpots. Masse crushed the field for her first skins win and finished 4th in the match in MVP points.

5. Rapsys Dominating Distance Free

ISL rookie Danas Rapsys looks like a contender for rookie of the year. After obliterating the ISL record with a 3:35.49 win in the 400 free yesterday, the Lithuanian went 1:41.23 in the 200 free today to crush his second league record. He leads the ISL ranks in the 200 free by half a second and in the 400 free by almost two seconds.

Despite swimming just two events, he finished 23rd in the match in MVP points, jackpotting four total swimmers across his two events.