Ingrid Wilm of Calgary continued to build off her success with the Current, posting three top-three finishes during the Final.
Wilm won the 50-m backstroke in 26.24 and the 100-m backstroke in 55.73, just shy of her Canadian record of 55.61, set in September. She placed third in the 200-m backstroke in 2:02.38.
“I didn’t see these times coming, so it was a huge confidence booster,” Wilm said. “Not only that, but I’ve gained a lot of experience mentally. I didn’t expect this from myself but now that I know I can do [those times], it’s given me a lot of confidence moving forward and it’s raised my expectations.”
“I really appreciated having so many opportunities to race and to get better so that you can constantly learn between each match and each race and what little things you can change and do better,” Wilm added.
Canadian Olympian Mary-Sophie Harvey helped Energy Standard to its second International Swimming League (ISL) title following a close battle between the Paris-based team and the Cali Condors as the professional circuit came to a close Saturday.
Energy Standard finished last weekend’s Final with 534.0 points followed by the Condors at 522.0, the London Roar with 393.5 and the LA Current at 305.5.
Harvey, a member of the Energy Standard team since the ISL’s inaugural season in 2019, aimed to play a bigger role on the team heading into the Final.
Energy Standard “was in a close battle with Cali and I really wanted to contribute to the team,” Harvey said. “This year I had a bigger role than in the first two seasons because I really stepped up at the beginning in Naples and scored big points. I wanted to do my part and be more of a contributing factor.”
The 22-year-old from Trois-Rivieres, Que., posted second place finishes in the 200-m and 400-m individual medley and was third in the 100-m backstroke.
“I’m always happy to do an extra event or do something that’s out of my comfort zone to help the team out,” Harvey said. “We played a little bit with that, especially in the Finals. We changed the [400-m] lineup last minute. I ended up placing second in the 400-m so that was a big surprise and I think it helped out with the points.”
“ISL was good set-up [for the rest of the season],” Harvey said. “With French Nationals being long course, it will be nice to see how it translates into the longer pool and as I continue to build towards Trials in April.”
Other Canadians with top three finishes in the Final included Sydney Pickrem’s win for the London Roar in the 200-m individual medley in 2:05.79. Katerine Savard of Pont-Rouge, Que., was second for the Cali Condors in the 200-m butterfly in 2:05.72.
Javier Acevedo of Ajax, Ont., placed third for the Current in the 100-m and 200-m individual medley in 51.76 and 1:53.80. Acevedo’s 100-m time broke Finlay Knox’s previous Canadian record of 51.77.
The ISL’s third season provided Canadian swimmers with many other opportunities to break national records. In November, 15-year-old Summer McIntosh of Toronto broke the 400-m freestyle record in 3:57.75. Kylie Masse also improved her previous record in the 200-m backstroke in a time of 2:01.45 earlier this season.
Full Results: https://isl.global
Original story by Swimming Canada: https://www.swimming.ca/en/news/2021/12/10/mary-sophie-harvey-key-player-for-isl-champions/