Kelsi Dahlia Takes Down ISL Record in 100 Butterfly, Just Misses American Record
During the fourth match of the ISL playoffs, Cali Condors’ Kelsi Dahlia got off to a huge start in the very first event as she destroyed the field in the women’s 100 fly. Dahlia went out under world-record pace in 25.68 — already opening up a half-second lead over London Roar’s Emma McKeon — and she flew home to a 54.89. That crushed her own league record of 55.22 set during the regular season in Naples, and she was only five hundredths off her 2018 American record of 54.84. Sarah Sjostrom is the only swimmer to ever go faster with her world record of 54.61.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve been under (54),” Dahlia said in an on-deck post-race interview. “I wanted to get off with a bang for our team tonight. I’m really pleased with the points.”
McKeon, meanwhile, finished more than a second behind in 56.00 to claim second-place points, while Cali Condors’ Erika Brown placed third in 56.13. LA Current’s Anna Ntountounaki took fourth, and the last four swimmers in the field had their points stolen in Dahlia’s huge jackpot win, which earned her 19 points.
The win was Dahlia’s fifth in the 100 fly this ISL season. She won her first three 100 butterfly races in the regular season — including in Match #2 when she set the previous ISL record — before finishing behind Louise Hansson in Match #7. She also won the event in the first playoff match, finishing seven tenths ahead of Sjostrom. We’ll see if Dahlia can track down that Sjostrom world record, which has lasted since 2014, during the final few weeks of the ISL season.
