The Los Angeles Current of the International Swimming League have announced their roster for this weekend’s championship meet in Las Vegas, Nevada.
There are no big surprises among the 28-swimmer roster that the Current will take to Las Vegas, which is the maximum number of swimmers a team is allowed in each meet. The Current did pick up a new swimmer for the finale – Maddie Banic, a former University of Tennessee Volunteer who will make her league debut under the brightest lights. Banic is primarily a sprint freestyler and butterflier, with yards bests of 21.54/48.70 in the 50 and 100 free, plus 51.1 in the 100 yard fly. Banic raced in long course at last weekend’s U.S> Open, where she swam 1:00.08 in the 100 meter free and 1:01.34 in the 100 meter fly.
- See Also: Cali Condors Roster
The Current, who have been represented by or signed 15 men and 16 women this season, left 3 swimmers off their Las Vegas roster. Shane Ryan, who joined the club for the US Derby and had an up-and-down meet there, wasn’t selected to race in Las Vegas. World Record holding backstroke Ryan Murphy missed that Derby meet, which opened a hole for Ryan, also a backstroker, to fill, but with Murphy returning, a 3rd male backstroker became superfluous.
On the women’s side, Anastasia Gorbenko, Margo Geer and Andi Murez are off the meet roster. Murez, an Israeli international, was announced as part of the team’s roster, but never wound up competing in the ISL season. Geer, meanwhile, represented the Current in both Lewisville and College Park, where she had a few 4th-and-5th place finishes in the sprint freestyles.
The 16-year old Gorbenko, another Israeli, filled a lot of holes for the Current this season, mostly in IM and freestyle races. In her last meet, at the U.S. Derby, she swam only the 200 free individually and finished 8th out of 8 swimmers.
The Current won the U.S. Derby meet ahead of the Cali Condors, and will join the Condors, London Roar, and Energy Standard at the finale on December 20th and 21st (Friday and Saturday) as teams compete for the inaugural ISL title and the $10,000-per-swimmer prize that goes along with it.
A statistical analysis based on season times so far (and the European Championships) projects the Current to finish 4th, but the ISL format leaves all 4 teams in contention for the title – plus we don’t know who will be tapered for this meet and who won’t be. Many European teams will be trying to carry forward their tapers from the European Championships last week, which could impact their times in Las Vegas.
Considering Murphy’s frame, imagine him as a bodybuilder
He reminds me of Channing Tatum there
He has a nice square shape to his pecs. 👀