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Do you like swimming more? ISL can guide you
Canadian swimmers saw further successes at the Olympic Games in Tokyo, winning six medals for the second year in a row. With many of them still on the young side, excitement is already building over the 2024 Olympics in Paris, less than three years away, and the 2022 World Championships, which will only last eight months.
But you don’t have to wait that long to get swimming. Several Canadian athletes are currently competing in the International Swimming League, which is taking place in the middle of its third season. If you are not familiar with the twisted independent circuit, here are some things you should know:
The position is different. Instead of representing their countries as they do at the World Championships, Olympic Games, and other traditional encounters, swimmers compete on teams of multiple nationalities – as in any other sports league. ISL has one other thing in common with these tournaments: teams compete against each other in a regular season, followed by playoffs and a final to determine the champions. The range of games at ISL is also large. The show is more modern and glamorous than what I saw at the Olympics. There is elaborate lighting, live DJ and the music continues during the races. Silence only prevails when the swimmers settle into the starting blocks.
The races are also different. ISL only uses 25m swimming pools – half the Olympic size. Each race has two swimmers from each of the four teams participating in that meeting – to fill all eight lanes. There are no introductions, so almost every race is final. Times don’t really matter: Swimmers score points for their teams (and win prize money for themselves) depending on where they finish. The distances are well known: the individual races are 50, 100, 200 or 400 meters and the relays are 4 x 100. Perhaps the most unusual offering from ISL is the “skin” race. These start with eight swimmers, then the field is shortened to four in the second round and then to two in the last round. Learn what the ISL race looks and sounds like Here.
Gender equality is a guiding principle. There are 12 men and 12 women on the starting grid for each game. There are an equal number of men’s and women’s races and a mixed relay in each game. Prize money is the same for men and women.
Good swimmers make good money. the interview SwimSwam- Content, American superstar Caeleb Dressel made nearly $292,000 last season, including a $100,000 bonus for winning the Player of the Season award and another $65,000 for winning the Top 5 title (in both cases being an MVP that is determined by the scoring system based on a goal swimmers in their races). Eight swimmers exceeded their $100,000 income. However, there are no wealthy Canadians. The highest earner, Kylie Maas, earned just over $40 thousand.
The Canadian watch team is the Toronto Titans. It is the only club in Canada and is the club with the largest number of Canadian swimmers. Among them is Kylie Maas, a two-time world champion in the 100m backstroke who won two individual silver and bronze medals at the Tokyo Olympics. Kayla Sanchez, who won two relay medals in Tokyo; and Brent Hayden, the 37-year-old former world champion who is back after seven years in retirement to qualify for this year’s Olympics. 15-year-old Summer McIntosh, who missed the podium in the women’s 400-meter freestyle, is also a member of the Titans. She won three races this season – the 200m butterfly and the women’s 400m individual medley in the opener last month and the 400m freestyle last week, breaking the Canadian record. But Macintosh announced yesterday that she will be leaving the team for the rest of the season since she started school at home in Toronto. She is in the tenth grade. Canada’s two biggest swimmers are not ISL subscribers. Seven-time Olympic medalist Benny Oleksiak started the first season but skipped the last two seasons. Maggie McNeil, the Olympic 100-meter butterfly champion, who also won three medals in Tokyo, swims for the University of Michigan.
You can watch Masse, Sanchez, and the rest of the Toronto team compete this week. The Titans are one of four teams competing in Game 7 of the season, which takes place both days in Italy on Thursdays and Fridays from 2pm-4pm ET. Watch live on CBCSports.ca, the CBC Sports app, and CBC Gem.
View | Macintosh won 400 million free at ISL event:
15-year-old Summer McIntosh won the women’s 400m freestyle with the Toronto Titans at the FINA event in Naples, Italy. 4:44
quickly…
Simone Biles testified that the FBI and the United States had “failed” her and hundreds of other athletes by not stopping Larry Nassar from continuing to sexually assault her. In tearful testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee today, Biles and Olympic gold medalists Makila Maroney and Aly Raisman criticized the two organizations for failing to prosecute their allegations against Nassar, who was eventually sentenced to life in prison for harassing gymnasts. take care of him. The hearing came after a Justice Department report criticized the FBI for botching its investigation and leaving abuses to continue for months. The director of the FBI apologized to the gymnasts who were mistreated today. “Not only did the FBI report my abuse, but when they finally documented my report 17 months later, they made completely false allegations about what I was saying,” Maroney said. “I really feel like the FBI has turned a blind eye,” Biles added. Read more about gymnastics certification here.
Andre de Grasse won his last race of the year. The track and field season in the Diamond League ended last week when de Grasse finished second in both the 100 and 200 meters at the finals in Zurich. But the Canadian star still had one race to go before the year began – 100m at a meeting in Switzerland yesterday. The Olympic bronze medalist for the 100 meters reigned in style, defeating Americans Fred Curley (silver medalist in Tokyo) and Justin Gatlin (former Olympic champion and world champion) in 10.06 seconds. De Grasse’s final tally for 2021: Six individual wins over the 100 or 200 meters – including his first Olympic gold over 200 – and a second consecutive Olympic bronze medal in both the 100 and 4 × 100 in Tokyo, as Canadian becomes the Olympic champion man at all times. Really a year of work. Plus…
De Grasse can be upgraded. The bronze medal he and his Canadian teammates won in the 4×100 race in Tokyo could be turned into silver after anti-doping officials announced yesterday that a member of the UK’s runner-up team had tested positive for a banned substance. This conclusion is under review by the Court of Sports, which will decide whether Great Britain should be disqualified and lose its medal. Read more about the case here.
They are up to date. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.
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