Rowdy Gaines, Bernie Guenther, Mark Foster and Jenny Drummond are the announcing team for the International Swimming League’s 2020 season, Gaines revealed on Twitter.
For many, Gaines is the voice of swimming – he’s covered every Olympic Games since 1996, calling the swimming events to the nationally-televised audience. Gaines was a three-time Olympic gold medalist back in 1984.
Here are some of the tweets Gaines posted from Budapest today:
The calm before the storm! @BernieGuenther, @MarkFosterSwim, @JennyDrummond1 and I will be here tomorrow and the next 6 weeks for the @iswimleague! Swimming is back!!! #isl2020 pic.twitter.com/ggmgAHryC7
— Rowdy Gaines (@RowdyGaines) October 15, 2020
Clean set, happy set. #isl2020 pic.twitter.com/Fi4nsvAlkY
— Rowdy Gaines (@RowdyGaines) October 15, 2020
Ready! @iswimleague #isl2020 pic.twitter.com/czdylynTZ8
— Rowdy Gaines (@RowdyGaines) October 15, 2020
Gaines’ final video gives a sneak preview at the ISL’s venue for 2020. All competitions will take place at the Duna Arena in Budapest. Athletes will live on nearby Margaret Island and train at the Dagaly Thermal Baths just up the road from the Duna Arena.
Guenther was a play-by-play commentator for last year’s inaugural ISL season. Foster was a World Champs silver medalist in swimming for Great Britain in the early 2000s. And Drummond is a sports reporter and commentator.
The International Swimming League begins its second season tomorrow. The professional swimming league is bringing athletes to Budapest, where they will live, train, and compete for six weeks. The regular season consists of ten meets, each fielding four teams. The top 8 teams in regular-season standings will move on to a pair of semifinals in November, followed by the league finale in Budapest on November 21-22.
we need four people to tell us that he is breathing to his right?
I love Mark… he’s an awesome guy and a legend in the sport. But Becky Adlington was 100x times better than him last season and I wish they’d kept her instead. Or at least Karen. Why would they go with Mark?
And picking Rowdy hardly fits the ‘revolutionary’ idea of the ISL, does it?
But beggars can’t be choosers and we’re all just excited for swimming to be FINALLY back!!!
Rowdy does a great job educating the non-swimming viewers, which we will need plenty of if we want this to continue.
They only had room for 1 token female (talk to anyone honest and you’ll know that ISL management is sexist as hell, in spite of what they say publicly). Jenny was probably cheaper, or Becky didn’t want to commit to being away from her family for 6 weeks solid, so they made the switch.
I vote LiveStream Andy, Garrett McCaffery, Elizabeth Beisel and Braden as commentators
Kurt Hanson and Becky Adlington . Need more nationalities.
Yes he was. Hope he is again. Do you know if channel 7 is showing it in Australia?
Well, there’s no doubt that he’s tightening up!
He is breathing to the other side so he can’t see his other opponent who is inching up on him!
Uh oh. Is Guenther the same guy who butchered any name that wasn’t completely Anglo? That was painful to listen to.
Hopefully no yank biased.
But what about Andy you guys?
No Aussies in this years ISL.
Rowdy Gaines? Unfortunate. Always been glad as a non-American to only be exposed to him via short clips on YouTube.
Agree. Let’s hope he studies up a bit beforehand.