Meet the Real ISL Season 2 MVP: The Cali Condors’ Star-Studded Women’s Team

Members of the Cali Condors celebrate winning the ISL Grand Final Sunday; Photo Courtesy: Mine Kasapoglu/ISL

His individual exploits unmatched, Caeleb Dressel took center stage this weekend for the Cali Condors. From the slew of world records, the television interviews or when it came to handing off the International Swimming League trophy after the Grand Final Sunday in Budapest, no one could mistake that in a season the ISL built around “creating superheroes,” Dressel was the super-est.

But if Dressel was the leader of the Condors’ expedition to the top of the ISL mountain, the heavy lifting was performed by a women’s team that richly deserves the trophy.

The proof is in the numbers, from Match 1 to the Grand Final. Sunday, the Condors finished with 561.5 points. And while the 37-point sweep powered by Marcin Cieslak and Dressel’s world record in the 100 individual medley put them ahead for good, they were in that position because of the women, who scored 301 points. Or, three more points that the entire LA Current.

That follows a theme all season for the 6-for-6 Condors: Five times, the Condors women have topped 300 points in a match, a total that doesn’t include the mixed freestyle relay. Only three other teams have tallied a single-match score of 300 or more from either their men’s or women’s side – London Roar women (304 in Match 2) and Energy Standard women twice (303 in Match 9, 315 in Semifinal 1). The Condors have done so as a matter of course.

The Cali Condors women’s scoring

Match 1: 376 points
Match 4: 357.5
Match 8: 263
Match 10: 312
Semifinal 2: 315
Grand Final: 301

That Match 1 total (again, just the women) was so dominant that it outscored 16 teams’ one-match totals this season, when both genders were factored in. Neither Aqua Centurions nor D.C. Trident scored that many in any match as a full team.

Lilly King and Molly Hannis (photo: Mike Lewis)

Lilly King and Molly Hannis of the Cali Condors; Photo Courtesy: MIKE LEWIS/ISL

The Condors are a team where the collective reigns, in practice and matches. Living and working together has brought out the best.

“It’s been awesome training with this group,” Kelsi Dahlia said via Zoom after the Grand Final. “Girls and guys, we’re a combined team so we train altogether, and it’s been fun to get some new practices, and I’ve just been so impressed with how well everyone trains.”

In the Grand Final, Dressel led the way with 96 points to claim match MVP award and polish off season MVP (463.50). But the Condors placed eight swimmers among the top 25 scorers, six of them women.

For the season, Lilly King was second in the MVP standings at 350 points. Her 87.50 points from the semifinal was the most scored by a non-Dressel this season. Olivia Smoliga finished sixth in the MVP standings with Hali Flickinger 11th and Beata Nelson 15th. And that was despite losing Melanie Margalis, who left after Match 8, when she stood 30th in the MVP standings.

It’s a testament to both coach Jonty Skinner’s juggling of the lineup and the squad that general manager Jason Lezak assembled.

“Melanie had decided even before the season started that she was going to leave, so we all supported her,” Dahlia said. “We were just challenged to fill her shoes. She has some big shoes to fill, but I think everyone came around and stepped up in huge ways. I’m just so impressed with how everyone performed.”

Nothing epitomized what the Condors did quite like the medley relay, with Smoliga, King, Dahlia and Erika Brown setting a world record of 3:44.52, among a bevy of American marks.

These ladies are re-writing the record books ?? pic.twitter.com/Xiqo8Em43m

— USA Swimming (@USASwimming) November 22, 2020

Just a sampling of the Cali Condors’ collective achievements from the Grand Final:

King did what should be renamed “The Lilly King,” sweeping the 50, 100 and 200 breaststroke.
Smoliga won the 50 back and 100 back.
Flickinger, who’s been all-around outstanding, outraced marked favorite Siobhan Haughey of Energy Standard in the 400 free in a 1-3 with Haley Anderson.
King won the skins, and for the fourth time in five matches in which the Condors picked breaststroke, King and Molly Hannis went 1-2. (King is 5-for-5 in skins; Smoliga won the other.)
Nelson, who swam approximately 17 times, won the 200 back and scored in the 100 and 200 IM.
Dahlia didn’t get a win but was second in the 200 fly behind Flickinger and third in the 100 and 50.
Even the little things, like Meghan Small sneaking up for second in the 200 IM when Nelson, not at her best in fourth, faltered, or Allison Schmitt sweeping up third in the 200 free, add up.

The achievements don’t happen in a vacuum. Part of the connective tissue is “The Nest”, the boisterous team box where the Condors fuel each other, which Dahlia was certainly grateful for.

Cali Condors win ISL 2020 (photo: Mike Lewis)

Cali Condors with the ISL trophy; Photo Courtesy: MIKE LEWIS / ISL

“It means so much,” she said, with a voice hoarse from cheering. “I love getting to look over to the team. Honestly, the team got me through that 200 fly today. It’s not my favorite event. But I knew that they believed in me, and that’s what motivated me for my swim and that’s what helped me secure second place, and those are big points that I felt helped get the momentum continued from Caeleb’s win the heat before. The box just brings so much energy, and then I love getting to jump in after my races are done and getting to cheer like crazy.”

From left, the Cali Condors’ Lilly King, Kelsi Dahlia and Olivia Smoliga celebrate their world record in the medley relay; Photo Courtesy: Mine Kasapoglu/ISL

“The energy from the Nest, even walking out for the skins, a little short there from moving on, but feeding off the energy has been great,” Dressel said. “It’s been such a fun time, this whole bubble. I can’t thank ISL enough. I really mean this: This is the most fun I’ve ever had swimming in my life. And to have that for six weeks is truly special.”

Mostly comprised of Americans, the Condors will go their separate ways post-bubble. Some train in clusters, but most will see each other again next summer, when it’s every swimmer for themselves in the race for spots in the Tokyo Olympics (COVID-19 permitting). The success of the Cali Condors bodes well for the quality at Trials and eventually in Tokyo for those who get to don a Team USA camp.

For now, in a most unprecedented year of swimming, they’re bonded as champions.

“It’s a huge honor to win,” Dahlia said. “I think we have some really tough people on our squad, and I think Jason did a great job, especially when Australia wouldn’t allow their swimmers to leave. People stepped up in big ways to fill their shoes as well, and I’m super proud. It means so much to the Condors to come together. We never won a meet last year, so we swam this season with a little bit of a chip on our shoulder, and I’m really proud of how everybody came together.”

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