Swimming got its first real taste of so-called “beef” inside the Budapest bubble on Monday at the conclusion of the ISL’s second semi-final, as backstroke specialists Ryan Murphy and Coleman Stewart got into it a little bit after their three-round skins battle.
Murphy, a member of the LA Current, defeated Stewart in every round, including a 1.56-second victory in the final head-to-head showdown.
Post-race, after the two shook hands, video caught Murphy saying “b****”, referencing Stewart, while looking at his teammates.
Stewart, who competes for LA’s in-state rival, the Cali Condors, responded on social media.
@ryan_f_murphy If you’re going to call me a bitch, man up and do it to my face. Not right after you shake my hand and say, “nice job.” I had nothing but respect towards you as one of the best backstrokers in the world but that’s gone now. Guess we were just raised differently. pic.twitter.com/ub6RlUWBZD
— Coleman Stewart (@cstew181) November 16, 2020
In addition to the decisive victory, Murphy “jackpotted” Stewart due to his margin of victory in Round 3, stealing seven of his points and $2,400 in prize money.
The animosity reportedly stemmed from Stewart “talking trash” that he was going to win the skins and beat Murphy in the warm-up pool, multiple swimmers told SwimSwam. While Murphy wasn’t present for this, he did say it fired him up, while ultimately acknowledging that he took it too far. Stewart says that what was said in the warmup pool was fairly mild.
Since Stewart’s call-out on social media, the two seem to have squashed the beef.
Murphy says he approached Stewart and that the two spoke this morning and hashed things out. Stewart agreed that the two were now on better footing after talking, saying that “emotions run high when we compete, especially the fifth week in a bubble”.
While the two appear to be on good terms, the incident still adds to the anticipation of the league finale coming up this weekend.
With the majority of the sport’s biggest stars all set to be in action, this will be like “Super Bowl Week” for the ISL, and these kind of tensions and rivalries can help bring visibility and excitement to a format that can become a little stale at times as the season wares on.
While this was the first real swimmer v. swimmer conflict this season, things were also stirred up two weeks ago when London Roar coach Mel Marshall called out some swimmers for using illegal dolphin kicks in breaststroke.
Other than the skins, Murphy and Stewart raced three additional times during the semis. Murphy picked up the win in the 50 back (22.76 to 22.84), Stewart (49.66) took second to Murphy’s tie for third (49.81) in the 100 back, and Murphy edged his rival by .02 on the lead-off leg of the men’s 400 medley relay.
Heading into the final, which kicks off on Saturday, Murphy ranks first in the ISL this season in both the 50 (22.75) and 200 back (1:47.48), while sitting third in the 100 (49.62). Stewart, who is in his first year as a pro after closing out his senior year at NC State in the NCAA, is third in the 50 (22.84) and fifth in the 100 (49.66).
Just because Coleman may have said he could beat Murphy during warm up doesn’t give Murphy the right to call him a bit*h on live television. it’s not only very poor sportmanship but young athletes are looking to these guys as role models and what they see will affect the future of the sport.
Yawn..i guess media needs to spark agitation of some kind going into the weekend..boo to Stewart for posting l ..wah wah..
Anyone see ” The Social Dillema”
He really is a b**** for posting that publicly. Man up and use it as motivation for next time instead of posting on social media.
Who’s the b****, the one who posted it or the one who got caught saying it behind someone’s back?
Yeah seriously, such a b*tch move for posting this publicly, flailing for support when his feelings were hurt. Seems like something a high schooler might do.
First, the Energy Standard GM going after Amazong Prime and The Oligarch, and now this. How are people not tuning into this?
Just look at Murphy – he’s a machine and would have broken that dude with moustache with one light punch. So he’d rather be happy with the outcome.
Speaking of, did we ever find out which swimmer deliberately bumped Alicia Coutts at Worlds back in the day?
More information?
https://www.couriermail.com.au/ipad/coutts-gets-tough-after-pool-decking/news-story/3140be29dc0098845342d8c713bceb97
Well according to the link you posted, it was a European before the 2011 Worlds 100 free final.
Suspects are Ottesen, Herasimenia, Kromowidjojo, Halsall and Heemskerk.
Actually, there are only two suspects. It was the first race that day, so you only have to watch a few seconds (50-55s) of that session’s video to get a quick glimpse into the room… they were all sitting lined up, she was sitting between Jeanette and Femke, looking straight ahead. The other two were both fiddling around a bit, Jeanette with her suit, Femke with her cap, but she was sitting closer to Femke and turned towards Jeanette, looking directly at her (and she didn’t look happy) when an elbow came up. So, my money’s on Ottesen… but who knows? No actual elbow is butting any head in those 5s they showed. Might just be my overactive investigative drive… Read more »
I think you are very likely to be right.
According to what I found on internet, they talked about it on Twitter too.
Heemskerk reacted on Twitter, saying she didn’t do it.
Halsall said she saw it happen
Kromowidjojo doesn’t think it was her, but says sorry just in case
Coutts says no, it wasn’t Kromowidjojo.
There are only two left: Ottesen and Herasimenia.
Herasimenia doesn’t have a Twitter account so she may not even know all the discussions. The only one left who didn’t join the conversation is thus most suspicious.
Is it bad for me to say that I wished they went back and forth a bit longer?
A little King vs Efimova rivalry (without the doping aspect) would do this league some good…
France vs U.S. relay
Popov vs Hall Jr.
Make people emotionally invested, create some intrigue, make it a bit more tabloid-worthy, give it some edge.
If Dressel wasn’t such a goody two-shoes, I’d suggest him needling on Flo or something.