TEAM TTO top swimmer Dylan Carter splashed to his second silver and a new national record on the second and final day of the semifinal match 2 of season three of the International Swimming League (ISL), yesterday, in Eindhoven, Holland.
It brought his personal medal tally—representing London Roar—to one gold and two silver for the two-day competition, after the 25-year-old national swimmer splashed to one gold (men’s 4x100m freestyle relay) and one silver (men’s 50m freestyle) on the opening day, Saturday.
Yesterday, the Tokyo 2020 Olympian came within a whisker of men’s 50m butterfly gold, touching one-hundredth of a second behind the winner, USA Olympian Tom Shields (22.51 seconds), representing the LA Current, Carter’s former team in the previous two seasons.
At the Pieter van den Hoogenband Zwemstadion, the five-time 2018 Central American and Caribbean (CAC) medallist Carter posted a 22.52 clocking to earn a two-way tie for silver with Aqua Centurions (AC) swimmer Matteo Rivolta.
Toronto Titans’ Marius Kusch (22.72 secs) was fourth followed by a joint-fifth place finish for Carter’s Australian teammate Kyle Chalmers and AC’s Thomas Ceccon (22.73) with Tokyo2020 gold medallist Ryan Murphy (22.93) and Toronto’s Grigori Pekarski (22.93 secs) in seventh and eighth place, respectively.
In the 50m butterfly Skins—an elimination event where eight swimmers embark on a three-phase preliminary, semifinal then final swim separated by three-minute breaks in between—Carter won the opening round in a personal best and national record mark of 22.25 seconds which improved on his 22.36 second swim on September 24 from the ISL preliminary round in Naples, Italy.
The time was also the eighth fastest time in the world this year according to the FINA’s latest world rankings.
Rivolta won the final over Shields (23.39 to 23.84).
Overall, Carter, the former University of Southern California (USC) student, was satisfied with his individual showing, if not a bit peeved about his team finishing second.
“I can’t complain, to be honest. Three PBs (personal bests) and a national record and a top-10 time in the world this year. But I was a bit upset to not advance to the skins final and score some extra points for the team. The final result was so close so I felt that disappointment. But we take it on the chin and move forward to the next match.”
In the end, LA Current emerged winners of the semifinal, amassing 506 points, with London Roar in second on 494.5, Toronto Titans third on 398.5, and AC fourth with 357.
Carter and the London Roar next compete on match day four of the ISL semifinals on November 21 and 22 against second-seeded Cali Condors, LA Current and Team Iron, before their third and final outing on match day five, scheduled for November 25-26, versus top-ranked Energy Standard, LA Current and seventh-seeded DC Trident.
At the end of the semifinals, the top four teams will advance to the finals on December 3 and 4, in Eindhoven.