ISL Match 3: Sarah Sjostrom, Siobhan Haughey Lead Energy Romp
It started Friday, in ISL Match 3 in Naples, with Energy Standard trotting out Sarah Sjostrom and Siobhan Haughey and daring the other three teams in the meet to do something about it.
It would end, less than two hours later, with Sjostrom and Haughey leading the way in the skins, and with Energy Standard winning its second straight match to open up the third season of the International Swimming League. And it would require just .5 points to separate them atop the MVP standings, Haughey taking the honors with 78 points to the 77.5 for Sjostrom.
A strong second day from Team Iron helped it solidify third place, putting a little scare into the London Roar briefly but ultimately not enough to unseat their Euro rival. The New York Breakers were third for a second meet this young season.
The final team standings of ISL Match 3:
- Energy Standard 640.5
- London Roar 436.5
- Team Iron 405.5
- NY Breakers 278.5
How it all went down:
ISL Match 3 team standings (after Day 1)
- Energy Standard 341
- London Roar 214
- Team Iron 181.5
- NY Breakers 160.5
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Women’s 100 freestyle
Thursday, Haughey and Sjostrom netted 31 points from the 50 free. The reward for a 1-2 in the 100 free Friday – Haughey first in 51.64, Sjostrom in 52.82 – was a comparatively modest 17 points for Energy Standard. But with plenty of races to come, it was merely the table-setter. Iron got third and fourth via Ranomi Kromowidjojo and Barbora Seemanova.
Men’s 100 freestyle
Duncan Scott gave the London Roar the early boost, unloading an outstanding final 50 to win in 46.80 seconds, a comfortable margin over the Breakers’ Jakub Kraska. In a testament to Energy Standard’s depth, it dug pretty deep into the roster but still picked up third and fourth via Andrea Shilkin and Clement Mignon.
Women’s 200 butterfly
Alys Thomas supplied a boost for Team Iron, winning over a relatively unheralded field in the 200 fly. Her time of 2:06.11 was clear of the field by a second, taking control from 50 meters on, though she only nabbed one extra point via the jackpot. The Breakers’ Svetlana Chimrova added vital points to NY’s effort to escape the basement by finishing second in 2:07.21.
Men’s 200 butterfly
A surprise boost for London arrived via Teppei Morimoto, who won in 1:51.32 and stole 12 jackpot points. He took the lead in the second 50 and held on, with much more left in the tank than Chad le Clos over the final 50. Le Clos claimed second in 1:52.59. London teammate Vini Lanza’s third-place made 18 points for the Roar.
Women’s 100 backstroke
Ah backstroke, the unquestioned dominion of the London Roar. First up, the women for a little 1-2. Kira Toussaint was first in 56.13, just 1.2 seconds off the league and world record belonging to second-place Minna Atherton. The Aussie was second in 56.86. A nice chunk of points went to Ingeborg Loyning of Iron in third.
Men’s 100 backstroke
Instead of company, Guilherme Guido did his damage via the jackpot in the men’s race. His time of 48.95 was so fast that only three others were able to keep their points, including fourth-place teammate Luke Greenbank. That meant 19 points for Guido and 24 for the Roar. The Brazilian also buzzed within .62 of the newly minted world record of Coleman Stewart. Second was Energy Standard’s Kliment Kolesnikov in 49.83, with Iron’s Robert Glinta in third.
Women’s 100 individual medley
Energy Standard’s backstroke interlude was palatable for the strength waiting in the IM. Mary-Sophie Harvey led the ES 1-2 with Anastasiya Shkurdai, the former winning in 58.79. Shkurdai was .09 back, with Abbie Wood .17 off the pace for third and Sydney Pickrem, back after missing the 200 IM Thursday, fourth in .28.
Men’s 100 individual medley
With a lot of generalists in the field, the 100 IM was waiting for someone to take control. Iron obliged, with Marco Orsi getting the win in 51.66 seconds. Teammate Leonardo Santos was second, a 17-point haul for the Ironmen.
Women’s 100 breaststroke
Alia Atkinson still has that turn of speed, and the short-course pool brings out the best of it. The Jamaican tallied 12 points for London by winning the race in 1:04.09, .77 seconds clear of Energy Standard’s Evgenia Chikunova. Atkinson and Annie Lazor (third in 1:05.23) teamed to tally 18 points for the Roar.
Men’s 100 breaststroke
The biggest jackpot of the day was hauled in by Ilya Shymanovich, the Energy Standard swimmer going 55.86 to shatter the field. He trimmed within .45 of the absent Adam Peaty’s ISL record and just .52 off Shymanovich’s world mark. Shymanovich allowed teammate Felipe Lima to keep his points in second at 57.38, and Iron prevailed with six points via Bernhard Reitshammer in third. But the rest went to Shymanovich, with 24 points and 31 total for ES.
Women’s 50 butterfly
The latest in untold dozens of battles between sprinting stalwarts Sarah Sjostrom and Ranomi Kromowidjojo went the way of the Swedish swimmer by a scant margin. Sjostrom touched first in 25.11, .04 ahead of the Dutchwoman. Second was Maddy Banic of Energy Standard to bring 16 points to the leaders.
Men’s 50 butterfly
If one Santos is good for Iron, two is better. The fly was Nicholas Santos’s turn, the 41-year-old who keeps winning sprint fly races and battles with Father Time. This time, it was to the tune of a 22.18, .3 off his league record from last year and .25 ahead of Ben Proud of Energy Standard. Santos got Iron 12 points via the jackpot. Dylan Carter was third for London.
After the 50 flys, the team standings in ISL Match 3 are:
- Energy Standard 491
- London Roar 338
- Team Iron 288.5
- NY Breakers 220.5
Women’s 200 freestyle
ISL swimmers have got to be getting sick of hearing Siobhan Haughey’s name. Because it’s usually got words like “winner” and “jackpot” attached. This time, both applied in equal measure, Haughey blasting the field to win in 1:52.82, a margin of 2.21 seconds over Team Iron’s Barbora Seemanova and 4.89 seconds over anyone else. That means Haughey gets 30 points for the jackpot, only Seemanova rescuing proof that she swam in the event.
Men’s 200 freestyle
It’s two for two for Duncan Scott, who built his way up to the win in a very solid 1:42.60. He was 1.5 seconds out in front of Team Iron’s Luiz Altamir Melo, and Scott’s teammate Zac Incerti grabbed points for third place.
Mixed Medley relay
Hmmm, if you have to ask … It’s Energy Standard. With Kliment Kolesnikov and Ilya Shymanovich taking it out and Anastasiya Shkurdai and the deceptively solid Fanny Teijonsalo taking it home, the ES bunch didn’t just win the race. They didn’t just win by a comfortable margin of 2.41 seconds in 3:35.89. They won while resting their big guns for the skins race ahead, and had enough depth left to take fourth with their B relay. Team Iron closed the gap on London with a 2-3 outing for 26 points to just 14 for the Roar in fifth and sixth.
Women’s 400 individual medley
The Breakers have stumbled through two matches, but Abbie Wood has been nothing short of fantastic. She picked up another win in 4:29.89. With the jackpot and intermediate points, she gave the Breakers 21 points to put in the kitty. Second – by 4.37 seconds – was London’s Katie Shanahan.
Men’s 400 individual medley
Again, the Breakers have had some solid swims, just not in the sprint wheelhouse that the ISL program tends to magnify. So Brendon Smith won another 400 IM, taking 13 points in 3:04.96, with teammate Brandonn Almeida fourth. But Luke Greenbank had the top score of the race thanks to intermediate points, getting 15 for his third-place result, which tallied 22 points for the Roar when paired with Duncan Scott’s runner-up result.
Women’s skins
To the skins, where it was Energy Standard’s show after choosing freestyle. Siobhan Haughey and Sarah Sjostrom, perhaps fittingly, tied in Round 1, getting eight points each for their times of 23.98. The two Energy swimmers shut London out of the second round, with Ranomi Kromowidjojo in third and Anna Surkova fourth, .01 ahead of the Roar’s Kira Toussaint and .03 up on Kim Busch.
Sjostrom was tops in Round 2 at 24.09, leaving Haughey to just nudge Kromowidjojo for the final finals spot by .07. Sjostrom jackpotted Surkova’s points for 14 in the semifinal. In the final, all the points went to Sjostrom with her time of 24.22, a clean second up on Haughey to grab all 21 points.
Men’s skins
Energy Standard got the choice of skins and went with butterfly, though that didn’t prove the best approach, even if it didn’t matter in the ISL Match 3 standings. Fly allowed Team Iron to flex its might, and Nicholas Santos and Marco Orsi cashed in by going 1-2 in the first round, led by Santos in 22.16. Chad le Clos, the presumed favorite and a skins stalwart, didn’t make it out of Round 1, edged by .05 seconds by teammate Ben Proud and London’s Vini Lanza. Le Clos went 22.74.
London did what it needed to check the Iron aggression. Lanza advanced from a markedly slower Round 2 by going 23.61. Santos won again in 23.38 and took teammate Orsi’s points for 14 in the round. But the younger Brazilian had the fresher legs for the third go-round, Lanza unleashing a 24.14 in the final to win ahead of Santos’ 24.69.
