DRESSEL ADDS EXTRA STARDUST TO ISL ON MAGICAL MVP DEBUT

ISL PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Over 100 Olympians are represented by the ISL, including 41 Olympic gold medals from the 2016 Olympic Games.

Making his International Swimming League (ISL) debut this past weekend, Caeleb Dressel of the Cali Condors sprinkled some extra stardust on an already out-of-this-world league, earning match MVP honors in Naples, Italy.

The 23-year-old swimming star had a near-perfect debut to his ISL career, winning 3 of the 4 individual events he entered: the 50 free, 100 free, and 50 fly. The only blemish on his Naples performance came in the 100 fly, which Chad le Clos won for the second-straight match by just .01 seconds ahead of Dressel: the smallest measured amount in swimming.

Dressel picked up big bonus points as the winner of the elimination-style skins race where his competitors faded in the 2nd and 3rd rounds of 50 freestyles, all jammed into a jaw-dropping 10-minute window. Dressel kept his speed almost equal throughout and cruised to a win in the final round, using his world’s-best start to win by 3 meters.

Dressel was also a part of a 3rd-place Cali Condors 4×100 medley relay, a 2nd-place Condors men’s 4×100 free relay, and a 2nd-place Cali Condors mixed-gender 4×100 free relay.

In spite of his prodigious individual effort, post-meet, Dressel was focused fully on his club, the Cali Condors, who finished 2nd in the meet, 2.5 points behind Energy Standard.

“I mean, I’d much rather have a team title than MVP, 100 percent of the time,” Dressel said after the meet. “It definitely stings, but it’s cool, there’s already started to be rivalries developing. Of course, friendly rivalries. I respect everyone on that team, but I would’ve liked to win the meet. And it was so close which is what makes it hurt a little bit more.”

For his efforts as the meet MVP, Dressel will receive a $5,000 bonus, as will the MVP – male or female – at each of the regular-season matches in 2019.

2019 ISL Meet MVPs:

• Indianapolis – Sarah Sjostrom, Energy Standard Club
• Naples – Caeleb Dressel, Cali Condors

About the ISL: The International Swimming League is a global professional swimming competition launching in 2019 with teams in both Europe (Italy-based Aqua Centurions, France-based Energy Standard, Hungary-based Iron, and London Roar) and the United States (Cali Condors, DC Trident, LA Current, NY Breakers). The inaugural season will include matches in Indianapolis IN, Naples ITA, Lewisville TX, Budapest HUN, College Park MD, London GBR, and the championship finale at the 12,000-seat Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, NV. The ISL aims to create groundbreaking projects, in both form and content, exploring the full potential of competitive swimming while securing sustainable commercial growth in the sport.

Key Dates:

5-6 October 2019 – IU Natatorium, Indianapolis, USA

12-13 October 2019 – Aquatic Swimming Complex, Naples, Italy

19-20 October 2019 – The LISD Westside Aquatic Center, Lewisville, Texas, USA

26-27 October 2019 – Duna Area, Budapest, Hungary

16-17 November 2019 – Natatorium at the Eppley Recreation Center, Maryland, USA

23-24 November 2019 – London Aquatic Centre, Great Britain

20-21 December 2019 – Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, Las Vegas, USA

ISL SOCIAL: Keep up with all the latest ISL news by following @iswimleague on Instagram and Twitter and @internationalswimmingleague on Facebook. Visit https://isl.global

Media Contact: James Mulligan ([email protected])  

International Swimming League Ltd

Alfred-Escher-Strasse 17, 8002 Zurich, Switzerland