FLASH! Kelsi Dahlia Takes Down 100 Butterfly World Record to Open ISL Final
Performance of the Week sponsored by Luma Lanes.
After narrowly missing the U.S. Olympic team, Kelsi Dahlia returned for the third ISL season with a vengence. Prior to the ISL final, the Cali Condors star had won the 100 fly in six of her seven appearances, and she broke the ISL record with a 54.89 in the fourth playoff match. In the final, Dahlia faced off against a phenomenal field that included world-record holder Sarah Sjostrom and Australian star Emma McKeon, who won seven medals at the Tokyo Olympics.
Against that outstanding field, Dahlia was dominant. She was out in 25.85, a tenth under Sjostrom’s world-record pace (25.96). McKeon was just a tenth behind at that point, but Dahlia exploded off the walls and pulled away on the second 50. Dahlia finished in 54.59, clipping Sjostrom’s 2014 world record of 54.61 by two hundredths.
“It’s so surreal. I don’t think it will hit me for a bit. It’s really special,” Dahlia said in an on-deck interview after the race. “That was an amazing heat. They were all great competitors. I was just sticking to my race plan. I wanted to get the match off to a great start for the Condors.”
McKeon, representing the London Roar, ended up finishing over a second behind Dahlia in 55.66, and McKeon’s London teammate Marie Wattel took third in 56.01. Sjostrom ended up fourth in 56.17.
Links
- Live Stream (Subscription only)
- Live Results
- Start Lists
- Match 1: Energy Standard Wins, Summer McIntosh Moves Toronto to Second
- Match 2: Coleman Stewart’s World Record Leads Cali Condors Domination
- Match 3: Sarah Sjostrom, Siobhan Haughey Lead Energy Romp
- Match 4: Caeleb Dressel Wins Four Events, Kelsi Dahlia Takes Two as Cali Condors Pull Away
- Match 5: Toronto Titans Claim Victory Behind Depth, Skins Win
- Match 6: Duncan Scott, London Roar Hold Off Caeleb Dressel-less Cali Condors
- Match 7: Skins Strength Sees Cali Condors Surge Past Toronto Titans
- Match 8: Ilya Shymanovich, Sarah Sjostrom, Siobhan Haughey Help Energy Standard Hold Off London Roar
- Match 9: Evgeny Rylov is MVP as Dominant Energy Standard Remain Unbeaten
- Match 10: Aqua Centurions Confirm Place In Eindhoven Play-Offs; Daiya Seto Is MVP
- Match 11: DC Trident Heading to Playoffs; Team Iron Also Moves On
- Playoff Match 1: Cali Condors Edge Energy Standard in Opening Postseason Match
- Playoff Match 2: Anastasia Gorbenko, Tom Shields Rally LA Current to Win
- Playoff Match 3: Energy Standard Rolls, Toronto Surges for Second
- Playoff Match 4: Led by Duncan Scott and Kyle Chalmers, London Roar Beat Cali Condors
- Playoff Match 5: Shymanovich, Haughey, Sjostrom Lead Energy Standard Past London
- Playoff Match 6: Cali Condors Surge to Another Victory, Set to Defend Title
