Could Defending League MVP Sarah Sjostrom Be the Odd Butterflier Out for ES?

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 
• Start Lists Day 1
• Full Results Day 1
• Start Lists Day 2
• 5 Big Things From Day 1
• Teams: Energy Standard/Aqua Centurions/New York Breakers/Toronto Titans

There’s an old adage in sports that you ‘can’t lose your starting spot to injury.’ But what if the defending MVP of the ISL doesn’t make her way back into the lineup?

“Wally Pipped” if you will?

Pipp played for the New York Yankees in the early 20th century, where he was a regular starter in the franchise’s hayday. According to lore, he missed a start with a ‘severe headache’ and was given the day off.

The man who replaced him? One of the greatest baseball players in history, Lou Gehrig. Gehrig would go on to a hall-of-fame career that included a then-record of 2,130 consecutive games played.

It seems almost improbable to say, but the World Record holder Sarah Sjostrom, who won the league MVP award in the 2019 season, might be on the outside looking in for Energy Standard in the 2020 ISL season after missing Match #6 with a back injury.

Sjostrom said during day 1 of the meet that she’s been having back problems for a while, and that it was aggravated by the simple act of putting her pants on. She “couldn’t walk” on Monday, though as the week progressed, she was able to resume normal training and said that the pain had mostly subsided.

In her absence, Maddy Banic, who was a late addition to the team’s roster, was promoted from ‘relay only’ to an individual swimmer, taking Sjostrom’s spot in the 50 fly and 100 fly. Banic finished 1st in the 100 fly and won the 50 fly, both of which came in faster times than Sjostrom has swum this season.

Shkurdai won the 100 fly and was 3rd in the 50 fly, and in the 100 was much faster than Sjostrom was in meet 1.

In fact, Banic’s 100 fly time was just a few hundredths short of Sjostrom’s 100 fly time from all of last season, which was 55.65 in the opener in Indianapolis. Banic’s 50 fly time was also just .14 from Sjostrom’s Season 1 best time of 24.83.

While Sjostrom is the fastest sprint butterflier in history, she hasn’t been overwhelming in the ISL format in those races – she won the 100 fly only once last season, though she topped the 50 fly three times.

Banic is a good swimmer, but I’m not sure anybody saw this kind of breakout performance from her.

2020 Energy Standard women’s sprint fly times

As for Shkurdai, her 55.64 in the 100 fly is the 3rd-best time in ISL history (behind Kelsi Dahlia and Emma McKeon, with McKeon not racing in the ISL this season).

Shkurdai and Banic are now the two fastest swimmers in the ISL this season, and two of only three under 56 seconds in the event this season, after Beryl Gastaldello of the LA Current swam 55.84 earlier in the weekend in Match #5.

So it almost seems unfathomable, but Energy Standard could leave Sjostrom as a relay-only swimmer for the 2 remaining matches of the regular season (where Energy Standard is now guaranteed to make the semi-finals, at least). They have a really soft schedule the rest of the way, facing only one team that seems within reach of making the final, the Tokyo Frog Kings, so that affords them the time to rest Sjostrom.

It’s not like they need her in the sprint freestyles either with Femke Heemskerk and Siobhan Haughey swimming well.

If nothing else, Banic’s emergence gives them the opportunity to reduce Sjostrom’s workload, possibly moving her to a freestyle-only swimmer for a few meets, or letting Banic swim the fly leg of the medley relay and giving Sjostrom a break there.

It seems sacrilegious to say, but Sjostrom might not be the team’s best option for the rest of the way. If trading were a thing in the ISL, Banic would be the hottest trade commodity in the league right now.

It seems likely that Sjostrom will find her way back into Energy Standard’s lineup for the semi-finals and definitely the finals, but the emergence of Banic at a minimum gives Energy Standard coaches options and flexibility to rest their superstar in the next few weeks and give her time to get her back healed as much as it can be healed.

Energy Standard, the defending ISL champions, have done ‘this league’ better than any other team so far this season, so if any staff is going to figure out how to take advantage of this, it will be James Gibson, Tom Rushton, and the rest of that crew.

Sjostrom is currently the World Record holder in the 50 free, 100 free, 50 fly, and 100 fly in long course, plus the 200 free and 100 fly in short course. She is the defending Olympic champion in the 100 fly and has won 3 of the last 4 World Championships in both the 50 fly and 100 fly in long course.