ISL Depth Charts 2020: LA Current Takes Steep Losses, But Builds Around Fly

INTERNATIONAL SWIMMING LEAGUE 2020: LA CURRENT

• 2019 finish: 4th
• 2019 MVP: Beryl Gastaldello (156 MVP points)

Full Roster

2020 Depth Charts

Our depth charts are equal parts research and prognostication. While most of our ordering is based around best times on record, we’ve also done some guesswork based on time conversions from short course yards and/or long course meters, or in cases where athletes don’t have recent results in a specific event. These depth charts are intended to show the top options for each event, even if the specific event lineup may prevent a top swimmer from entering all of the events where they rank in the top two.

Potential skin races are shown in blue, and the events with relay considerations in red.

Strengths

The Current should be one of the stronger butterfly groups in the league. Tom Shields was outstanding last year, with top-ranked swims in all three butterfly distances. Meanwhile Beryl Gastaldello still probably isn’t getting the credit she deserves – she had the best 50 fly swim of anyone in the ISL last year (including Sarah Sjostrom) and hit three of the top four swims in the league in that event.

Men’s backstroke should be a strength. Ryan Murphy was a little underwhelming last year compared to his scoring ceiling, but still scored 26+ in all three of his appearances. Murphy has a chance to really shine in the 50 back skin race, where his mix of speed and endurance should be on full display.

Abbey Weitzeil brings a lot of excitement to the women’s sprint free group. It’s hard to tell exactly where she’ll fit into the pecking order in short course meters, but her elite short course yards times (20.9 and 46.2) suggest she might fit right in with the top sprinters in the league, especially with the Australian standouts not competing.

Weaknesses

Last year, the Current were extremely deep in the relays, but struggled for top-end scoring. That remains true on the men’s side. The Current have a chance to have every swimmer on both men’s 4×100 free relays go 47-low or better, but may not have anyone split better than 46-mid. That’s good news for the B relay (and for avoiding jackpot steals), but not great for the A relay (and trying to win an event or stack up those rich jackpot rewards).

On the women’s side, Weitzeil is more of a top-end standout, but the depth is a little worse than on the men’s side. As the distances go up, LA might struggle with the women’s 200/400. Weitzeil currently projects as maybe the top 200 freestyler, and the 400 free might wind up being flyer Katie McLaughlin. (Madi Wilson remains a potential question mark, even though she’s still listed on the roster).

Both women’s and men’s breaststrokers are more 200-centric, which hurts the skin race potential. But Kierra Smith, Will Licon and Josh Prenot could all be outstanding in the 200s.

Skins

Free: Losing Nathan Adrian (who is sitting out the season) is a big blow to LA’s skin hopes. Kristian Gkolomeev is a pretty solid entrant – he made the second round twice last year for the Aqua Centurions. For the women, Weitzeil might be a true title contender, especially with the top Australians out of the regular season.

Back: Murphy was better in the 200 than the 50 last year, but the skin race should be a good fit for both his short speed and endurance. On the women’s side, it might be Gastaldello or Ali DeLoof. Gastaldello was pretty solid last year and can probably make the later rounds.

Breast: Felipe Silva is a good roster fit here, a sprinter who should cover for the more 200-based breaststrokers on the roster. On the women’s side, Smith is atop the depth chart, but Weitzeil might be an intriguing entrant, too. Either way, this probably isn’t the stroke LA is picking if they win the medley relay.

Fly: Fly is clearly the top choice for LA. Shields has been outstanding, and Dylan Carter and Maxime Rooney could both be awesome entrants, too. Gastaldello is one of the best options in the league on the women’s side, and there’s lots of sprint fly depth around her, too.

Outlook

Last year, the Current mostly surprised fans with strong depth that outscored the star power of some other franchises. The Current’s men scored more than any team but Energy Standard. But that men’s roster saw massive turnover this year, with names like Nathan Adrian, Jack Conger, Ryan Held, and Chase Kalisz sitting out the season and Felipe Lima, Blake Pieroni, Michael Chadwick and Shane Ryan leaving in free agency.

Weitzeil is probably a more valuable addition on the women’s side than any of the losses (Kathleen Baker and Ella Eastin to opting out of the league and Annie Lazor, Amy Bilquist and Margo Geer to free agency), but altogether, the roster is definitely thinner than it was a year ago.

LA is still a sneaky-good roster, in that its relay depth will score more than you’d expect based on name value. But they’re also the most likely finale team from last year to drop out of the postseason this year based on the personnel losses.

Getting key NCAA prospects to swim to their potential will be the biggest determining factor. And if LA can funnel the skin races into butterfly, they could easily overperform expectations by playing to their roster strengths.