London Took Over Cali’s Lead In 1 Event, Skins Are W Fly/M Free (Day 1 Wrap-Up)

2021 INTERNATIONAL SWIMMING LEAGUE – SEASON 3, MATCH 6

• Saturday, September 11 – Sunday, September 12
• 12:00 pm – 2:00 pm EST (6:00 pm – 8:00 pm Local Time)
• Piscina Felice Scandone, Naples, Italy
• Short Course Meters (25m – SCM) Format
• ISL Season 3 Schedules, Start Times, & More
• All Ten 2021 ISL Team Rosters
• Teams Competing: Cali Condors, London Roar, Tokyo Frog Kings, Aqua Centurions
• Omega Live Results
• Match 6 Preview

Day 1 Recap

Team Scores After Day One

1. London Roar, 277.0
2. Cali Condors, 263.5
3. Tokyo Frog Kings, 187.0
4. Aqua Centurions, 181.5

In an interesting turn of events, the London Roar leads on the Cali Condors by 13.5 points after the first day of competition. Similarly, the Tokyo Frog Kings are now a mere 5.5 points ahead of the inching Aqua Centurions for third place. After the first six events of the match, Cali only had a one-point lead over London. Despite numerous point gains from the 4×100 freestyle relays by the Condors, the Roar slowly inched at the Condors in the third session of the match to topple their team lead.

Entering the third session, Cali had a 13-point lead over London, 181-168. Kira Toussaint set the tone for the session with her win in the 50 back over Condor Olivia Smoliga. In the men’s 50 back, Guilherme Guido upset event favorite Coleman Stewart of Cali, 22.60 to 22.92, to pick up the jackpot win of 19 points. Roar teammate Christian Diener avoided Guido’s jackpot by scoring 5 points while Condor Angel Martinez got jackpotted. London wound up out-scoring Cali 24-7 in this event and took over the lead in the team standings by 5 points, 205-200. Into the women’s 400 free, London was able to stay ahead of Cali with a 4-point advantage, improving their lead to 213-204.

In the men’s 400 free, London utilized a strong point pick-up strategy with the newly-instated 100-mark checkpoint bonus. At 100 meters, Zac Incerti flipped first to secure 6 points right off the bat. Then, Duncan Scott held off Aqua’s Matteo Ciampi to secure the 14-point jackpot win. Despite placing seventh at the finish, Incerti wound up picking up 8 total points, which would be equivalent to a 1st- or 2nd-place finish in an individual event. The Roar earned 22 total points to Cali’s 5.5 points, again improving their lead over the Condors to a 25.5-point margin, 235-209.5.

While Cali was able to win both medley relays, meaning they once again get to get the final pick on skins strokes, London still held onto to their lead. Following the medley relays, the skins selections were made.

The Tokyo Frog Kings did not play any part in the stroke elimination process following their double fourth-place relay aggregate point totals. Luckily, to Tokyo’s benefit, the London Roar eliminated breaststroke both times before the Cali Condors could have a say. At the same time, the Aqua Centurions strategically removed freestyle from the women’s side and backstroke from the men’s side. In the end, the women’s 50 fly and men’s 50 free were chosen for tomorrow’s skins events.

London’s Emma McKeon is a two-stroke sprinter, and will likely appear on the women’s 50 fly skins start lists to the Roar’s advantage. However, Cali’s Kelsi Dahlia, a previous season 3 fly skins winner, defeated McKeon in the 100 fly on day one. Meanwhile, the Condors will need Caeleb Dressel and Justin Ress on their A-game to hold off London’s Kyle Chalmers in the men’s 50 free skins.