ISL Semifinal Day 2 Start Lists: Carter, Stewart Join Skins Field

2020 INTERNATIONAL SWIMMING LEAGUE – SEMIFINAL #2

• Sunday, November 15th: 6-8pm CET/11-1pm U.S. Central
• Monday, November 16th: 6-8pm CET/11-1pm 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 
• Teams: Cali Condors / LA Current / Iron / Toronto Titans
• Startlists Day 2
• Results Day 1

The LA Current will again use rising backstroke star Dylan Carter in the men’s skin race, while Cali will add Justin Ress. Neither swam the 50 back yesterday.

Leaving Ress out of yesterday’s individual 50 back appeared to be a strategic gambit to keep him fresh for the extra-important medley relay, which sits just two events after the 50 back in the ISL schedule. Cali didn’t quite win the relay, but Ress’s blazing 45.3 anchor leg very nearly ran down LA, and gave Cali its best men’s medley relay time this year by three seconds.

Carter swam only the 50 free and the men’s free relay yesterday – though the 50 back comes directly after that free relay with only a short session break in between. It appears the LA Current were probably trying to lighten the load on Carter, who  came in second last week in a 50 back skins race.

You can see the full day 2 start lists here.

We’ll also see a couple changes in the women’s skin race field compared to yesterday’s 50 breast. The top four will remain the same: that’s Cali’s Lilly King/Molly Hannis and Iron’s Jenna Laukkanen/Ida Hulkko. But LA will switch Anastasia Gorbenko into the field in the place of yesterday’s 8th-placer Kierra Smith. Gorbenko has been the team’s fastest 50 breaststroker this year, but didn’t swim the 50 breast yesterday because she was more needed in the 200 IM one event earlier.

Meanwhile Toronto will go with 200 breast standout Kelsey Wog, who takes over for Jocelyn Ulyett (7th yesterday). Wog had that same 200 IM conflict yesterday.

A few more notable entries:

• Cali will again use Beata Nelson in the 100 IM rather than the 100 back. The two races come back to back, and Nelson swam the backstroke more often early in the season. But she’s really taken off in the 100 IM, and is especially needed there with Melanie Margalis absent.
• With no skin race to swim for the third time this year, Caeleb Dressel will load up on individual events and relays. He’s set to swim the 100 free and 100 IM in the opening session, then the 50 fly and mixed free relay in the middle session.
• It’s worth noting that Cali will use Justin Ress on the mixed free relay, even though it’s a relatively tough double with the grueling skin race. He’s the only one of the 16 skin entrants who is swimming this relay along with the skins.
• Toronto appears to have most often put their best swimmer all the way out in lane 8 – that will perhaps give them some clean water, but from a viewership perspective, it also means we could see some fun “outside smoke” type races in today’s sessions.