2019 INTERNATIONAL SWIMMING LEAGUE – AMERICAN DERBY
- Saturday, November 16 – Sunday, November 17, 2019
- 2:00-4:00 PM Local Time (U.S. Eastern Time)
- Eppley Recreation Center – College Park, MD
- Short Course Meters (SCM) format
- American franchises: Cali Condors, LA Current, DC Trident, New York Breakers
- Preview
- Live Stream (ESPN3)
- Full Day 1 Results
Saturday was a perilous debut for new LA Current backstroker Shane Ryan. He was disqualified after a 4th-place finish in the 50 backstroke, and he was the swimmer who was finishing when his teammate Will Licon left .11 seconds early on the men’s medley relay, which cost the team what would have been a 3rd-place finish.
But it wasn’t all bad news for the American-born swimmer who now represents Ireland through his father’s birthright. He set a new Irish Record in the 100 meter backstroke on that relay leadoff. Because he finished legally, under FINA rules, the result should be legally entered into the official results for the day.
Ryan split a 50.84, which was the second-best split of the field behind only his LA Current teammate Matt Grevers, who was 50.16.
Presuming ratification of the swim, it easily slips under Ryan’s own Irish Record of 51.62 that he set at the Leinster Short Course Championships just 2 weeks ago in Dublin. The previous record of 52.04 belonged to Conor Ferguson from the 2018 World Short Course Swimming Championships.
Comparative Splits:
| 1st 50m Split | 2nd 50m Split | Total Time | ||
| Shane Ryan | New Record | 24.39 | 26.45 | 50.84 |
| Shane Ryan | Old Record | 24.52 | 27.10 | 51.62 |
Ryan was a last-minute add to the Current roster for this meet after fellow backstroker Ryan Murphy opted out. While his specialty is backstroke, he also split 47.29 on the Current’s 400 free relay, which was the best split on that runner-up relay (though the Current split their lineup and secured a valuable 2-3 finish). He’s probably still an odd-man-out for the team’s roster for the Las Vegas final, but even if the backstroke slots aren’t available to him because of Murphy and Grevers, he should still at least warrant a look as a relay-only swimmer in the finale.