2020 INTERNATIONAL SWIMMING LEAGUE – MATCH 4
- Monday, October 26: 3 PM-5 PM Local Time (10 AM-12 noon U.S. Eastern, 11 PM-1 AM J+1 Japan)
- Tuesday, October 27: 3 PM-5 PM Local Time (10 AM-12 noon U.S. Eastern, 11 PM-1 AM J+1 Japan)
- Duna Arena – Budapest, Hungary
- Short Course Meters (SCM) format
- ISL Technical Handbook
- 2020 ISL Scoring Format
- 2020 ISL Prize Money and Bonuses
- How To Watch
- Teams: Cali Condors / DC Trident / Iron / NY Breakers
Lilly King continues to get faster.
Competing in the International Swimming League’s fourth match of the season, King put together a spectacular swim to win the women’s 200m breaststroke in a time of 2:16.04, knocking nearly a full second off her previous personal best of 2:17.03.
King, who represents the Cali Condors, set her old PB at the ISL’s Grand Finale last season, where she closed out the campaign having not lost a single race the entire season. That remains the case thus far in season two, having gone wire-to-wire in all of her events.
During the first week of competition, the 23-year-old won the 200 breast in a time of 2:17.11. She also set a new lifetime best in the 50 breast in the first match, lowering the American Record in 28.86.
The swim elevates King up from ninth to sixth all-time in the event, and also bumps her up one spot to become the second-fastest American ever. Rebecca Soni, the world record holder, holds that distinction with her 2:14.57 from 2009.
All-Time Performers, Women’s 200m Breaststroke (SCM)
| Rank | Swimmer | Time | Year |
| 1 | Rebecca Soni (USA) | 2:14.57 | 2009 |
| 2 | Rikke Pedersen (DEN) | 2:15.21 | 2013 |
| 3 | Leisel Jones (AUS) | 2:15.42 | 2009 |
| 4 | Yuliya Efimova (RUS) | 2:15.62 | 2018 |
| 5 | Rie Kaneto (JPN) | 2:15.76 | 2016 |
| 6 | Lilly King (USA) | 2:16.04 | 2020 |
| 7 | Annamay Pierse (CAN) | 2:16.83 | 2009 |
| 8 | Kanako Watanabe (JPN) | 2:16.92 | 2014 |
| 9 | Laura Sogar (USA) | 2:16.93 | 2012 |
| 10 | Jocelyn Ulyett (GBR) | 2:17.10 | 2019 |
King also now owns the ninth-fastest performance ever.
Compared to her previous best, the big difference for King came on the front half, where she was 1.74 seconds faster.
| King, 2019 ISL Final | King, 2020 ISL Match 4 |
| 31.09 | 30.11 |
| 35.70 (1:06.79) | 34.94 (1:05.05) |
| 35.75 (1:42.54) | 35.94 (1:40.99) |
| 34.49 (2:17.03) | 35.05 (2:16.04) |
King won the race by 1.42 seconds, with New York Breaker Emily Escobedo second in 2:18.46. King earned a total of 15 points for the victory, jackpotting the final three finishers.
Does this break Soni’s American record? Her top time outside of ’09 was 2:16.3 from 2010. (Yes, I know that Soni holds the world record, but that was during the weird period where U.S. wasn’t recognizing records swum in the suits. And I couldn’t find a video, but I assume she swam in the suits.)
USA swimming recognizes Soni’s 2:14.57 as an American Record, even though it was in that weird intermediate period where some swims weren’t recognized, but…she must’ve been in a textile suit.
I reached out to the data folks at USA Swimming to confirm. But for now, that’s the best available info.
Ok so here’s the official explanation: USA Swimming is holding to it’s whole “rubber suits between September 1, 2009 and December 31, 2009 don’t count as American Records” schtick, with one exception: if FINA ratified a swim as a World Record, USA Swimming accepted it as an American Record. Apparently this decision was made in 2010.
Weird choice? Yes. Worst decision USA Swimming made in 2010? Not even close.
Hopefully they all just get broken sooner rather than later and this can become more of a footnote of history rather than contstant confusion.
Thanks Braden
That first 50 though… King wasn’t messing around!
Is it just me, or are all of these really fast October times in some early college intrasquads/duals/tri’s and ISL meets icredibly fast beyond normal because we missed a whole summer? Teams have to be training really hard…….
We’ve really got some great athletes in the sport and people are training really smart. I really believe that the cross training forced by the pandemic has been incredibly beneficial to a lot of the swimmers out there.
Training smart – well said!
I have a feeling the real reason is the rest…
10th in the all time list is Jocelyn Ulyett, not Mio Motegi. Saw it in a @swimmingstats post on Instagram.
Lilly King’s success and the Indiana football team’s great upset win against Penn State on Saturday! Life is golden in the land of the Hoosiers and the home of the GOAT, Head Coach Ray Looze! #rayloozegoatcoach, #hoosierdaddy, #thefabulouslillyking, #iugodscountry, #iunumber1