ISL Match Three Notes: Ryan Murphy Riding the Jackpot Current

Photo Courtesy: Mine Kasapoglu / ISL

ISL Match Three Notes: Ryan Murphy Riding the Jackpot Current

The third week of the International Swimming League season marked the debuts of the league’s two expansion franchises, the Tokyo Frog Kings and Toronto Titans, and the new entries carried themselves in fine fashion at the Duna Arena in Budapest. Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Current – third in its opener last weekend – looked sharp in securing the Day One lead of its second match.

Heading into the second day of competition, the Current holds a 14-point advantage over the Frog Kings, 262.5-248, with the Titans in third with 208.5 points. The Aqua Centurions rounded out the field with 156 points.

Results

Here are some notes from the latest ISL action:

Riding the Murphy Current

In nine months, Ryan Murphy has designs on stepping on the blocks at the delayed 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo and defending the backstroke titles he won in Rio de Janeiro four years ago. Only East German legend Roland Matthes has doubled in the backstroke events at back-to-back Games, accomplishing the feat in 1968 and 1972.

The way Murphy has looked on the ISL stage suggests his training is proceeding superbly, and a march toward history is very much a possibility. After emerging as the highest-scoring male in the opening match of the ISL season, Murphy again paced the L.A. Current in the first half of its second meet, as he prevailed in the 200 backstroke and shared top honors with Toronto’s Shane Ryan in the 50 backstroke. The 200 back time of 1:48.40 allowed him to reclaim his ISL record, taken by Radoslaw Kawecki in Match 1.

Murphy also led off the Current’s winning 400 medley relay, which was fueled by Tom Shields’ butterfly leg and Maxime Rooney’s freestyle anchor. That squad, which included Felipe Silva on breaststroke, set the fastest time of the season by more than a second at 3:21.85. (Tokyo and Aqua Centurions were also quicker than the London Roar’s previous top time.)

The win allows the Current to select the Skins event for Sunday’s action, and coach David Marsh is going to go with Murphy in the 50 backstroke, as was the case in the team’s opener. During Week One, Murphy dominated the three rounds of Skins. The women, also winners of the medley relay, have selected freestyle as the Skins event tomorrow.

Leading the MVP chase with 37 points, Murphy has been a major beneficiary of the league’s Jackpot scoring system in which athletes can steal points from the opposition via significant winning margins. Following several Jackpot performances last weekend, Murphy “Jackpotted” five foes in the 200 backstroke on Saturday, a dominant showing that yielded 24 points for the Cal-Berkeley product and the Current.

New-Look Success

Aside from receiving a boost from its deep roster of Japanese talent, such as medley standouts Yui Ohashi and Kosuke Hagino, the Tokyo Frog Kings benefited from a pair of swimmers who raced elsewhere in Season One of the ISL.

On the Team Iron roster last year, Vladimir Morozov made his debut for the Frog Kings an impressive one as he prevailed in the 50 freestyle and dipped under the 21-second barrier with a mark of 20.98. Meanwhile, Leah Smith, who raced for the L.A. Current last fall, came through for Tokyo with a triumph in the 400 freestyle.

By winning events for their new clubs, Morozov and Smith followed the path worn by Siobhan Haughey last week. Formerly with the D.C. Trident, Haughey is now a key member of defending champion Energy Standard, which she supplied with a victory in the 200 freestyle and strong showings in the 100 and 400 free.

The Rich…and Poor

One of the concerns out of the early days of the International Swimming League has been the have and have-not status of the league’s franchises. The ISL has proven to be top-heavy in the little more than a season since it launched, with the bottom teams buried and basically serving as non-factors in the action.

That scenario was evident on Saturday morning, as the Aqua Centurions were largely battered by their opposition, placing fourth and finishing 52 points behind third-place Toronto. The Italian club managed a relay win and got individual triumphs from Nicolo Martinenghi (50 breaststroke), Martina Carraro (50 breaststroke) and Mykhaylo Romanchuk (400 freestyle), but an overall lack of firepower and depth left the Aqua Centurions well back. They did, however, set an ISL record in the men’s 400 free relay, the squad of Pedro Spajari, Marcelo Chierghini, Szebasztian Szabo and Alessandro Miressi finishing in 3:04.93 to upset the Roar’s record from the Season 1 final.

The flip side to the top-heavy nature of the ISL is the occasional opportunity for a superb three-way battle, which is exactly what unfolded between Los Angeles, Tokyo and Toronto. Each squad showed its strengths and while Toronto slipped back slightly as the session progressed, L.A. and Tokyo remained tight throughout the meet.

Not Following the Leader

With Kosuke Kitajima serving as the franchise’s general manager and Japan known for a rich breaststroke tradition, it felt odd for Tokyo to look pedestrian in the breast events. The Frog Kings went winless in the four breaststroke races that were contested, and secured only 36.5 points

An argument can be made that Kitajima is the greatest breaststroker in history, his all-around talent allowing for that identity. While Adam Peaty has been incredibly dominant in the sprint distances, Kitajima flourished as a 100 and 200 breaststroker, and is the only athlete in history to double in the events at consecutive Olympic Games.

A Titanic Debut

In their debut session, the Toronto Titans registered five victories – from athletes representing five nations. Sweden’s Louise Hansson (100 butterfly), Canada’s Kelsey Wog (200 breaststroke), Iceland’s Anton McKee (200 breaststroke), the United States’ Lisa Bratton (United States) and Ireland’s Shane Ryan (50 backstroke) all claimed wins in their first action as Titans. McKee set the ISL record in 2:01.73, the eighth-fastest time in history. Bratton’s time of 2:01.74 is the quickest of the season.

Bratton (D.C. Trident), Ryan (L.A. Current) and Wog (Cali Condors) all were with different franchises last season.

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