International Swimming League names United States Team coaches for the London 2026 All-Star Match

Cyndi Gallagher, Carol Capitani and Todd DeSorbo, whose swimmers have included Olympic champions and world-record holders, will coach the United States Team at the London Aquatics Centre on Saturday 19 December 2026.

LONDON, UK – Monday 2 November 2026: The International Swimming League (ISL) has today announced the coaches of the United States Team, the second of the four teams that will contest the ISL All-Star Match at the London Aquatics Centre in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park on Saturday 19 December 2026.

The United States Team will be coached by Cyndi Gallagher, Carol Capitani and Todd DeSorbo, with Gallagher as head coach: three coaches who between them have led the United States women’s team at the Olympic Games and the World Championships, and whose swimmers have won Olympic titles, world championships and set world records. They are the second coaching staff confirmed for the All-Star Match, in which the United States Team will face the Commonwealth, Europe and Intercontinental teams for the largest prize pool ever offered for a single night of competitive swimming.

Ben Allen, Commissioner of the International Swimming League, said: “The United States has always set the pace in world swimming, and this coaching staff shows why. Cyndi, Carol and Todd have dominated college swimming, led American teams on the world stage and coached swimmers who have rewritten the record books, and Cyndi was there at the very start with DC Trident. The second of our four teams is taking shape, and the names in the water will follow.”

The United States Team’s star athletes will be announced in the coming weeks, along with the coaches of the Europe and Intercontinental Teams. Tickets for the All-Star Match are on sale now through Ticketmaster, with full details at isl.global.

The United States Team coaches

Cyndi Gallagher: The first head coach of DC Trident in the league’s original seasons, Gallagher returns after 31 years leading UCLA women’s swimming, where she produced 11 Olympians and 91 All-Americans and won more dual meets than any coach in programme history. She entered the American Swimming Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2021.

Carol Capitani: Head coach of the University of Texas women’s programme since 2012, Capitani has won a conference team title in each of her first 14 seasons and six consecutive top-three finishes at the NCAA Championships. She led the United States women’s team at the 2023 World Championships, and her athletes include world medallists Leah Smith and Madisyn Cox.

Todd DeSorbo: Head coach at the University of Virginia, where he has won six consecutive NCAA women’s team titles (2021 to 2026), the first coach to do so. DeSorbo led the United States women’s team at Paris 2024 and the 2022 World Championships, and his training group, including Kate Douglass and Gretchen Walsh, has produced at least 35 world records since 2022 and counting.

Notes to Editors:

About the International Swimming League (ISL):

Forget everything you thought you knew about swimming.

The ISL tore up the rulebook. It built something the sport had never seen before: fast, ferociously competitive, team-based racing designed for fans, built for broadcast, and made to deliver unforgettable moments. The ISL gave the biggest names in swimming what elite athletes in other premier sports already had - a stage of their own. Real prize money. Team pride. High stakes on every single length, where the clock is not the only thing that matters.

Across three unforgettable seasons between 2019 and 2021, the ISL lit up three continents with competing franchise clubs from North America, Europe and Asia, and a roster stacked with the greatest swimmers on the planet. Two-hour matches crackling with intensity. Point scoring that turned every race into a team battle. Coaches plotting line-ups, saving their strongest swimmers, and timing every selection to maximise points. Fierce rivalries igniting the moment the water broke, swimmer against swimmer, team against team, with everything on the line. The ISL didn't just prove swimming could be entertaining. It proved it could be electric.

And now, the ISL is back. The League returns sharper, smarter and built to last. This is the next chapter of a movement that changed what swimming could be and it's about to do it again, bigger and bolder than ever.

About The All-Star Match:

On Saturday 19 December 2026, the ISL is hosting its All-Star Match in London: a one-night showcase of the world's fastest swimmers in a unique two-hour head-to-head competition. This is not a heats-and-finals meet: every race counts, every touch moves the scoreboard, and one team leaves London crowned champions.

The match marks the return of the ISL, bringing back the dynamic, unpredictable version of swimming in a world-class venue with a live crowd and global audience watching the best compete head-to-head.

Expect high-octane racing from first event to last, team tactics, momentum swings, and a venue energised by a DJ, with unique visual and audio production galvanising the atmosphere between races. Whether you have followed the ISL from the start or this is your first taste of swimming reimagined, London in December is where the sport comes back to life.

About the London Aquatics Centre:

The London Aquatics Centre is a world-class, 2,800 capacity aquatics venue in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, designed by Zaha Hadid Architects for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and is today one of the busiest public swimming venues in the world.

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