ISL Match 11: Bottom Four Clubs Battles for Two Playoff Spots
In a new wrinkle for the third season of the International Swimming League, the final match of the regular season will feature a play-in day. The teams sitting seventh through 10th in the standings – Team Iron, Tokyo Frog Kings, DC Trident and New York Breakers – will battle it out to see who will join the top six in the playoffs in November.
It’s top two or go home for these four clubs.
The advantage would seem to be with Iron, which finished seventh in the regular season and improved steadily as the season went on. But for the two bottom clubs, DC Trident and New York Breakers, it’s a chance to maybe pull off a surprise. The Trident are looking to avoid missing the playoffs for a second straight season.
For ISL fans, it is the last chance to get a look at a few of the top swimmers in the league. Tokyo’s Daiya Seto, New York’s Abbie Wood and Brendon Smith and DC Trident’s Bailey Andison have been some of the top swimmers in the league this season, though all gravitate toward the longer event. How those teams fill the gaps in the shorter distances to counter Iron’s sprint prowess could make a big difference in this match.
ISL Season 3 standings
- Energy Standard 16
- Cali Condors 15
- London Roar 13
- Toronto Titans 12
- LA Current 11
- Aqua Centurions 10
- Team Iron 8
- Tokyo Frog Kings 6
- DC Trident 5
- NY Breakers 4
Links
- Live Stream (Subscription only)
- Live Results
- 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
ISL Match 11 Live Updates:
Women’s 100 butterfly
Aly Tetzloff got Tokyo off to a fast start with a time of 56.02, her fastest of the season and the fourth-fastest of the ISL campaign. She needed it to outduel Svetlana Chimrova of the New York Breakers, who went 2-3 with Chimrova and Alicja Tchorz.
Men’s 100 butterfly
The Breakers get their first win via Jakub Majerski in 49.98. Second is Camden Murphy of the Trident with Team Iron’s Nicholas Santos third. Just 0.82 seconds separated the top seven swimmers, a dynamic that’s likely to play out plenty in ISL Match 6. These teams are largely in this match because of their lack of sprint stars who can cash in on the jackpot, so it’ll be an interesting match to see how they cope without those big bonus points.
Women’s 200 backstroke
Tokyo is on the board, thanks to Gabby DeLoof’s time of 2:04.47. She had just enough down the stretch to outlast New York’s Daryna Zevina by .19 seconds, and she got a bonus with teammate Paige Madden finishing third. The top six were clustered within .94 seconds. The big shock is Ingeborg Loyning, who finished eight with a time nearly four seconds slower than her national record.
Men’s 200 backstroke
Jacob Pebley delivers the first jackpot of the day with a time of 1:48.59. That’s the quickest time in ISL this season, it’s DC Trident’s first win and it’s 12 points via the jackpot. Grigory Tarasevich was a distant second in 1:50.23 with Team Iron getting third and fourth via Lorenzo Mora and Robert Glinta.
Women’s 200 breaststroke
If this is the last we see of Abbie Wood this season, it’s been an incredible campaign for the British star. Wood added to her haul with a win in the 200 breast, one the periphery of her wheelhouse, with a time of 2:19.11. It’s a 1-2 with teammate Molly Renshaw in 2:19.34, 17 big points for the Breakers. Jenna Strauch of Team Iron was third.
Men’s 200 breaststroke
Had it been a 199-meter breaststroke, Cody Miller would’ve gotten the win. But in that final meter, Erik Persson made it 5-for-5 this season, the Swedish star nipping Miller at the wall by .05 seconds. Persson was quickest in 2:02.88 to grab 12 jackpot points for Team Iron. Miller settled for second in 2:02.93 with Daiya Seto third.
Women’s 400 free relay
For the first 200 meters, it looked like Team Iron’s race to lose. Anna Hopkin made sure that lose they did.
Hopkin’s split of 51.06 on the third leg surged DC Trident to the win in 3:28.79 to get the win and 24 points via jackpot (and 30 total points with the B team in sixth). Team Iron held on for second in 3:30.38, with Ranomi Kromowidjojo and Barbora Seemanova getting them out fast but not fast enough. The Breakers were third, but the advantage goes to Tokyo with a split relay to get fourth and fifth for 18 total points.
Men’s 50 freestyle
In a wide-open battle, Ryan Hoffer got his hand to the wall first for DC Trident, with a time of 21.13 seconds. That edged out the presumptive favorite, Team Iron’s Thom de Boer, by .06 seconds, though Iron minimized the damage with de Boer second and Marco Orsi fourth. Stan Pijnenburg was in the middle for the Breakers.
Women’s 50 freestyle
A little vintage Ranomi Kromowidjojo is exactly what Team Iron needed. The Dutch sprinter controlled the field start to finish to win in 23.74 seconds and get 10 points. Teammate Melanie Henique was fourth as Team Iron starts to warm to the match. Catie DeLoof earned Tokyo Frog Kings big points in second, edging out DC Trident’s Isabella Hindley by .01.
Men’s 200 individual medley
Andreas Vazaios picked a fine time to drop his best swim of the season, one of several such swims from the DC Trident. Vazaios surged in the final 50, getting his hand to the wall first in 1:51.15. That’s the third-fastest time in ISL this season, .03 behind Daiya Seto’s best and .01 behind Caeleb Dressel.
Vazaios needed it all to get past Seto, who settled for second in 1:51.80. Leonardo Santos of Team Iron was third.
Women’s 200 individual medley
Tokyo Frog Kings needed a boost, and Yui Ohashi obliged. After tying with Abbie Wood in their previous duel this season, Ohashi got the better of her IM rival by .08 seconds, a time of 2:04.86 that is the second-fastest time in the league this year. Wood grabbed second, her second top-two finish of the day.
Men’s 50 breaststroke
It’s an Asian record for Yasuhiro Koseki, who turned in a stellar time of 26.01. The first Japanese record of the season, it trims .01 off the time he’s done twice in his career, in 2018 and 2019. Tokyo got 12 points via the jackpot and added a tie for second with Alessandro Pinzuti knotting Kirill Strelnikov in 26.20.
Women’s 50 breaststroke
A big race, and the biggest jackpot of the day for anyone, produced by Ida Hulkko, who got to the wall in 29.68 and swept up 15 jackpot points over a relatively week field. Teammate Jenna Strauch held onto her fourth-place points for five additional points. Miranda Tucker was second for Tokyo with Sara Vasey of New York third.
Men’s 400 freestyle relay
The New York Breakers needed a break, and Matt Temple obliged, surging ahead in the final leg with a 45.99 to get his hand to the wall first. It’s a time of 3:06.75 to get the Breakers a win and 20 points. DC Trident were the big scorers of the match though, astutely splitting the relay with Ryan Hoffer on the nominal B team to get second and fourth, which yields 24 points. Tokyo was third.
Team Scores in ISL Match 11
- DC Trident 169
- Tokyo Frog Kings 148.5
- Team Iron 137.5
- NY Breakers 129
Women’s 50 backstroke
Three DeLoofs and a tie: Ali DeLoof of the DC Trident (in an event where both of her sisters swam for Tokyo) and Team Iron’s Melanie Henique tied at the wall in 26.32 seconds. Just .18 separated the top four, with Alicja Tchorz and Paulina Peda of the Breakers grabbing third and fourth.
Men’s 50 backstroke
It’s been a great opening day for DC Trident, which Mark Nikolaev reinforced with a win in 22.98. It’s the fifth-fastest time in ISL this season. Second was Robert Glinta of Team Iron in 23.01 with Takeshi Kawamoto third. DC got points with Andreas Vazaios in fourth.
Women’s 400 freestyle
Joanna Evans brought the outside smoke to lead DC Trident to a win. It’s a personal-best 4:00.14 for the Bahamian, trimming her national record by nearly two seconds from earlier in the season. DC took home 20 points with Leah Neale in fourth. Barbora Seemanova was second for Team Iron, which netted 15 points between her and fifth-place Veronika Andrusenko. Abbie Wood was third for the NY Breakers, but Paige Madden’s intermediate points despite finishing sixth meant Tokyo took home 12 points.
Men’s 400 freestyle
While the others battled out the early sprints, Brendon Smith lied in wait and owned the final 300, getting his fifth win in the event in 3:37.11. That’s 14 big points for the fourth-place Breakers. Second was Team Iron’s Luiz Altamir Melo. DC got 17 points from the event, with Jay Litherland third and Velimir Stjepanovic finishing fifth but getting early bonus points.
As ISL Match 11 heads to the medley relays, the team scores are:
- DC Trident 231
- Team Iron 182.5
- Tokyo Frog Kings 178.5
- NY Breakers 171
Women’s 400 medley relay
Six-hundredths of a second separated the top three teams at the 300-meter wall. Ranomi Kromowidjojo separated herself from the field in the final leg.
Kromowidjojo split 50.8 on the end to drag home the relay of Ingeborg Loyning, Ida Hulkko and Emilie Beckmann in 3:49.91. DC Trident gave them all they could handle, with Anna Hopkin nearly getting to the wall first but falling .31 short. The Breakers were third. Iron outscores DC by two points on the event, 24-22, for skins control.
Men’s 400 medley relay
Tokyo, with its skins weaknesses, needed a fast finish to Day 1 of ISL Match 11. Their medley relay got the job done, but DC Trident’s depth gives them the skins choice.
Tokyo was first in 3:22.76 (Grigory Tarasevich, Yasuhiro Koseki, Takeshi Kawamoto and Nandor Nemeth). But DC kept on the pressure to take second and fourth; with a 24-22 edge in points, DC picks the skins. Team Iron was third and fifth.
After the first day, the team scores are (remember the top two advance to Eindhoven and the playoffs):
- DC Trident 277
- Team Iron 226.5
- Tokyo Frog Kings 214.5
- NY Breakers 193
