Worlds Silver Medalist Tatjana Schoenmaker Pulls Out of Iron’s 2020 ISL Roster

ISL Rosters: Hansen and Schoenmaker withdraw from Iron; team adds Hulkko, Ludlow, and Zmushka. 

International Swimming League: Iron

Breaststrokers Jessica Hansen of Australia and Tatjana Schoenmaker from South Africa have withdrawn from the ISL’s Iron club. In response to these losses, Iron has added Ida Hulkko, Danica Ludlow and Alina Zmushka to the Iron roster for the 2020 season. The roster is now complete with 16 males and 16 females.

Australian Jessica Hansen appears to be the latest victim of the blockade by Swimming Australia to participate in the ISL. In April, it was announced by Federal Tourism Minister Simon Birmingham that Australia’s borders could remain closed for international travel until December in an effort to keep the number of imported coronavirus cases low. This has now caused issues for Australian swimmers competing in the ISL, with Swimming Australia wielding its power against funded athletes with threats of loss of money and Code of Conduct violations if they travel to compete at the ISL meet. At least 4 Australians are expected to participate anyway.

Last season, Hansen competed with the London Roar, where she scored 47 MVP points in 3 meets. That ranked her 98th in the league individually.

Meanwhile, Schoenmaker will miss the ISL for the 2nd-straight season. One of the most accomplished female swimmers in South African history already at age 23, she won silver at the 2019 World Championships in the 200 breaststroke and swept the 100 and 200 breaststrokes at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and 2019 World University Games.

Ida Hulkko is a national breaststroke record holder from Finland. Hulkko broke two Finnish national records, in both the 50 and 100 breaststrokes in long course, in June after returning to competition after the coronavirus pandemic. Her biggest gap is that she’s not going to score many points in the 200 breaststroke, and that can be a significant hole in an athlete’s lineup in the ISL format.

24-year-old Danica Ludlow, a Sydney, Australia native, swims at the University of Calgary in Canada. In 2018, she won USports national titles in the 200m freestyle, 400m freestyle and 800m freestyle. IN spite of being born in Australia, Ludlow swims on the Canadian National Team and lives in Victoria, British Columbia.

Lastly, Alina Zmushka, a Belarusian swimmer, has been added to the roster. Zmushka is a breaststroker and competed in the 100m breaststroke at the 2019 World Aquatics Championships, ranking 15th with a 1:07.69. Like Hulkko, she is much better in the sprint 50 and 100 meter breaststrokes than the 200, so Iron could be in trouble at the longer distance.

Zmushka brings a high degree of potential, however. Already coming back from quarantine, she’s matched her lifetime best in the 100 breaststroke in long course. In the 2019 calendar year, she knocked a full second off her best time in the 100 breaststroke in short course and almost 3 seconds off her best time in long course.

Iron does have one of the league’s most versatile swimmers in Katinka Hosszu who can help fill a lot of those holes. They also have Finland’s other top breaststroker Jenna Laukkanen on their roster, who is better in stretching to the 200 breaststroke (SCM bests: 29.54/1:04.25/2:21.30).

The Iron team was lacking in mid-distance freestylers, with Russian Veronika Andrusenko being the team’s only other true mid-distance option. That makes Ludlow’s addition crucial to filling lanes for Iron, which last season had an electric top-end to their team with the likes of Ranomi Kromowidjojo, Katinka Hosszu, and Vlad Morozov, but struggled in depth.

After losing both of their breaststrokers, Iron was forced to scramble to replace them. The addition of Hulkko and Zmushka will put Iron in a good standing for the 2020 season.

Ida Hulkko’s best times:

Danica Ludlow’s best times:

Alina Zmushka’s best times:

Iron 2020 Full Roster:

Male Swimmers

• Robert Glinta
• Kristof Milak
• David Verraszto
• Ross Murdoch
• Artsiom Machekin
• Clément Mignon
• De Boer Thom
• Guilherme Basseto
• Huseyin emre Saci
• Leonardo Santos
• Marco Orsi
• Maxim Lobanovszkij
• Nicholas Santos
• Oussama Sahnoune
• Ramon Klenz
• Yakov Toumarkin

Female Swimmers

• Ranomi Kromowidjojo
• Katinka Hosszu
• Veronika Andrushenko
• Ida Hulkko
• Belmonte Mireia
• Jenna Laukkanen
• Danica Ludlow
• Maria Ugolkova
• Valerie Van Roon
• Caroline Pilhatsch
• Daria K Ustinova
• Emilie Beckmann
• Isabella Hindley
• Melanie Henique
• Daria Zevyna
• Alina Zmushka