ISL Playoff Match 3: Energy Standard Rolls, Toronto Surges for Second
With the way Energy Standard has swim in 2021, it’s not spoiling anything to say that the battle in ISL Playoff Match 3 is mostly for second. The lead of 61 points after Day 1 didn’t seem insurmountable. But given the parade of swims by Sarah Sjostrom, Siobhan Haughey, Ilya Shymanovich and company, it was only a mater of time before Energy Standard pulled away.
That left an intriguing battle for second. Aqua Centurions appeared to use its sprint and breaststroke depth to take the edge on Day 2. But a Toronto surge that started with the 400 IM and continued into skins did the trick for the Titans, whose Grand Final aspirations hinged on taking home at least second-place points Friday. Aqua Centurions needed to stay out of the basement as they were in the first match, but having third place so close and missing out feels disappointing. In fact, they finish closer to the Trident than to Toronto.
ISL Playoff Match 3 Final Standings
- Energy Standard 583
- Toronto Titans 407
- Aqua Centurions 390
- DC Trident 383
ISL Playoff Match 3 MVP Standings
- Sarah Sjostrom, Energy Standard 87.5
- Siobhan Haughey, Energy Standard 67
- Mark Nikolaev, DC Trident 50
- Kliment Kolesnikov, Energy Standard 49.5
- Ilya Shymanovich, Energy Standard 44.5
- Kylie Masse, Toronto Titans 43.5
- Evgeny Rylov, Energy Standard 39
- Matteo Rivolta, Aqua Centurions 34.5
- Aleksandr Shchegolev, DC Trident 34.5
- Alberto Razzetti, Toronto Titans 33
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
- 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
- ISL Playoffs Match 3, Day 1: Sarah Sjostrom Breaks Own ISL Record in 50 Free
An event-by-event recap of Day 2:
Women’s 100 free
Before the other teams in the field could even perceive the door to first place as open a touch, Energy Standard slammed it shut. Siobhan Haughey continued her flirtation with a sub-51 time by winning in 51.11. Second was Sarah Sjostrom in 51.34. That’s a 22-point haul for Energy Standard.
Toronto is the other big winner, with Kasia Wasick third and Michelle Coleman fourth.
Men’s 100 free
DC Trident’s rise down the stretch to get into the playoffs owes a lot to some growth on the men’s side, and Aleksandr Shchegolev is a big part of that, winning in 46.38. More important than the nine points is neutralizing what should’ve been an edge for Aqua Centurions, with Alessandro Miressi and Vladislav Grinev third.
Women’s 200 fly
For the second straight meet, Laura Stephens has provided a spark for Toronto. She was sixth at the 100 but surged in the back half to win in 2:05.86 and grab 10 points. With Summer McIntosh fifth, it’s a 15-point haul for the Titans. Helena Rosendahl Bach of Energy Standard was second with D.C. Trident’s Zsuzsanna Jakabos third.
Men’s 200 fly
An early candidate for race of the day sees Zach Harting hold off the charge of Alberto Razzetti in the men’s 200 fly. The D.C. Trident swimmer won in 1:51.74, checking the momentum of the Titans’ in-form Italian by .14 seconds. Camden Murphy edged Leonardo de Deus to third by .15 points in what could be a useful two-point swing for the Trident.
Women’s 100 back
Kylie Masse takes care of business once again in 55.77 seconds, her best time and the second-fastest in ISL this season. It earned the Titans 12 points, plus seven from Lisa Bratton taking the runner-up honors in 56.69, working the back half as is her style. DC Trident is the other winner, thanks to Ali DeLoof finishing third and Linnea Mack in fourth. That’s 11 points to minus-1 for Aqua Centurions as the Trident looks to climb out of fourth.
Men’s 100 back
And, well, the Trident are into third. That’s thanks to a massive jackpot by Mark Nikolaev, who won in 49.69 seconds. He picked up 24 points via the jackpot, with only Evgeny Rylov of Energy Standard and Matteo Rivolta of the Centurions keeping their points.
The result puts the Trident 16 points up on Aqua Centurions for third. They are 21 points shy of the Titans for second.
Women’s 100 IM
Mariia Kameneva provided Aqua Centurions answer in short order with a win in 57.94. That’s the second-fastest time in the league this season, .04 behind Beata Nelson. Second is Mary-Sophie Harvey of Energy Standard, quietly marching its way toward victory. Kayla Sanchez also takes care of business for Toronto in 58.38 for third.
Men’s 100 IM
As Energy Standard looks to sculpt its Grand Finale lineup, the 100 IM remains a question. Kliment Kolesnikov may have answered it. The all-purpose fastman went 1.15 to get the win and score 15 jackpot points. It’s the second-fastest time in ISL this season, trailing only Caeleb Dressel.
Aqua Centurions win the battle of Italians with Thomas Ceccon second in 51.51 ahead of Alberto Razzetti. With fellow Centurion Fabio Scozzoli third, Aqua is able to leapfrog the Trident and get back into third by five points.
Women’s 100 breast
Aqua Centurions are going to make their stand in the breaststroke. First up, Martina Carraro, with a win by .01 in 1:04.89. With teammate Arianna Castiglioni in second, that’s 16 points going the way of Aqua Centurions. Tatiana Belonogoff got in the middle of that AC group to get second in 1:04.90 to stake a claim for D.C., which remains in fourth.
Men’s 100 breast
It’s world record time for Ilya Shymanovich in a loaded field, the Belarussian trimming .02 off his world record in 55.32 and gaining 15 points. Aqua Centurions are the big winners, though, with Arno Kamminga second in 56.26 and Nicolo Martinenghi third. That’s 13 points for the Italian outfit. That means after 30 events in ISL Playoff Match 3, Toronto Titans (301 points) hold a slim three-point edge on Aqua Centurions (298) with D.C. Trident (273) fading into the distance.
Women’s 50 fly
Sarah Sjostrom’s hunt for a world and national record in the 50 fly will have to wait for another day. The Swedish star did plenty to win in 24.75, but it didn’t edge her closer to the 2009 world record of countrywoman Therese Alshammar (24.38). The 15 points via the jackpot (plus six for Maddie Banic in third) keep the Energy above the fray.
Speaking of said fray: Toronto got shutout, despite Kylie Masse deputizing in fly. And DC only got three points. Which means Aqua Centurions – with Holly Barratt in second and Silvia di Pietro in fourth – leap into fourth place.
ISL Playoff Match 3 team Standings
- Energy Standings 416
- Aqua Centurions 310
- Toronto Titans 301
- DC Trident 276
Men’s 50 fly
Matteo Rivolta continued his outstanding form by winning in 22.47 seconds. He edged out Ben Proud of Energy Standard by a tenth and swept up the jackpotted point from teammate Fabio Scozzoli in last. Toronto managed just fourth and fifth, so it’s a 10-9 edge for Aqua in the battle for second.
Women’s 200 free
Siobhan Haughey’s only race on Friday was with history, not the field. Haughey swept up 19 points from a field where no one could stay within 3.25 seconds of her. In the process, Haughey trounced her ISL record with a time of 1:50.66, nearly a half-second faster than the 1:51.11 she set in Budapest last year.
Federica Pellegrini was the best of the rest for Aqua, followed by Kayla Sanchez of Toronto – another one-point edge for Aqua.
Men’s 200 free
Luc Kroon did his best to stop the Titans’ slide. But he couldn’t close the gap to Aleksandr Shchegolev in the final 50, the DC Trident swimmer winning in 1:41.01. Kroon was second in 1:42.85, but his seven points was negated by Matteo Ciampi finishing third for Aqua with Vladislav Grinev sixth.
Mixed medley relay
Double points means double gains for Aqua Centurions, who suddenly find themselves in a commanding position for second. At the top, yes, yes, Energy Standard wins again – Evgeny Rylov, Ilya Shymanovich, Anastasia Shkurdai and Femke Heemskerk in 3:33.11, a win by 3.5 seconds despite resting Siobhan Haughey and Sarah Sjostrom for skins.
But the Centurions made out best. They finished second with their A squad (Thomas Ceccon, Arno Kamminga, Elena Di Liddo, Lidon Munoz del Campo) as well as fifth. Energy Standard swept up 30 points via the jackpot, with Aqua the only B team to save its points. That means a 22-10 edge on Toronto.
Women’s 400 IM
Summer McIntosh and Tessa Cieplucha have put Toronto back in the fight. McIntosh finished third, but with intermediate points, she ended up with 12 points to go with Cieplucha’s seven for fourth. They were probably disappointed not to get to second, with Energy Standard’s Viktoriya Gunes outtouching the Titans’ duo by .05 and .20, respectively. But with Bailey Andison of D.C. winning in 4:26.75 and taking a jackpot of 19 points, that means Aqua Centurions are shut out. It carves the Titans’ 25-point deficit to six.
Men’s 400 IM
Ilia Borodin got to the wall first, but Toronto Titans ended up ahead on balance. Borodin got the win in 4:01.72 to nab 15 points via jackpot. But with intermediate points, Max Litchfield (second in 4:02.79) and Alberto Razzetti (4:04.43) end up with 19 points. That’s one more than Borodin and sixth-place Chase Kalisz scored.
Into the skins, the teams scores are:
- Energy Standard 493
- Aqua Centurions 376
- Toronto Titans 371
- DC Trident 353
Women’s Skins (freestyle)
For the briefest of moments, Sarah Sjostrom looked vulnerable. Then you remembered that she’s in fact Sarah Sjostrom.
The Swedish star pulled away with an otherworldly final 15 meters to win the skins final over Toronto Titans’ Kasia Wasick. In addition to the match win for Energy Standard and her third skins title of the season, she’ll also clinch the ISL Playoff Match 3 MVP with 87.5 points. She was quickest at each level, with unbelievable consistency – 23.70, 23.95 then 23.98.
Each team had a representative in the second round, the big surprise being Siobhan Haughey missing out at the expense of Holly Barratt of Aqua Centurions in fourth. Anna Hopkin also got into the semifinal for D.C.
Sjostrom provided Toronto an assist by taking Barratt’s points in the second round, leaving only Wasick and Sjostrom for the final. Wasick was second in the first round at 23.79, then second at 24.15 to advance to the final. She was quicker to her feet in the first 25 of the final, but then Sjostrom surged. Wasick kept her points, though, at 24.56.
That gives Toronto a 23-9 edge in the women’s skins, moving them to 394 points to 385 for Aqua Centurions, though Aqua has the edge in the men’s skins. D.C. Trident is fourth with 360.
Men’s Skins (freestyle)
First, the battle for second. It’s an Italian that gets it done, but not the one Aqua Centurions was rooting for. Of the Titans and Aqua Centurions, only Toronto’s Lorenzo Zazzeri got to the second round, clocking in at 21.27 for third. With Aqua sixth and seventh, that 7-5 edge in the first round alone is enough to get Toronto into second place, come what may. Zazzeri added six points from the second round.
D.C. made it interesting for third with Aleksandr Shchegolev in fourth, then second, then second to get 19 points. But the race belonged to Kliment Kolesnikov, as Energy Standard has found yet another late-meet weapon. The Russian tied with teammate Ben Proud for the round 1 win in 21.10. He bested the field in 21.85 in the second round, jackpotting proud. Then outlasted Shchegolev by .08 in the final to win in 22.40.
