Canada's Andison wins women's 400m IM for 4th time; Cali Condors take 1st ISL playoff meet
Canadian Mary-Sophie Harvey wins 1st leg of 50m backstroke skins, 2nd in 100M IM
Canada's Bailey Andison won the women's 400-metre individual medley for the fourth time this season in the International Swimming League as the first playoff match came to a close on Friday.
Andison, who had competed at the Tokyo Olympics this past summer, has been in a league of her own in the event. The Smith Falls, Ont., athlete had a spectacular race for her team DC Trident, touching the wall in four minutes 29.60 seconds.
A day ahead of her 24th birthday, Andison also earned the points of German competitor Leonie Kullmann through a jackpot.
But it was the Cali Condors — the 2020 champions — who emerged with the playoff match win in Eindhoven, Netherlands, with a total of 534.5 points.
WATCH | Andison blows away competition for victory in 400M IM:
Energy Standard, topping the standings in the regular season and the 2019 champions, came up short with 522 points. DC Trident placed third with 359.5 while Team Iron ended in fourth with 340.
The second playoff match of the season runs Saturday and Sunday, featuring the Toronto Titans, London Roar, LA Current, and Aqua Centurions.
Strong performance by Canada's Harvey
Swimming for Energy Standard, Canadian Mary-Sophie Harvey built on Thursday's success in the pool for her team with a second-place swim in the women's 100-metre individual medley. Andison finished in 1:00.34 for sixth.
Harvey was just 0.01 seconds off the gold, which was taken by Beata Nelson of the Cali Condors in a time of 58.25.
But it was Harvey who came out on top in the first leg of the women's 50-metre backstroke skins race. The Canadian edged the rest of the field in a top tight four, while Nelson was cut after her fifth-place swim.
Harvey moved on but wasn't able to survive the second leg, placing third and missing out on advancing by eight one hundredths of a second.
Ali Deloof and Maaike de Waard went head-to-head in the final, with the latter coming out on top.
Swimming for the winning squad, Canada's Katerine Savard tied for fourth in the women's 200-metre freestyle with Cali Condor teammate Erika Brown, both touching in 1:55.42.
Meanwhile, Siobhan Haughey won that event and nearly broke her own league record by posting a time of 1:51.17.
"I'm just trying to do my best," Haughey, swimming for Energy Standard, said. "I'm really happy with the time."
WATCH | Cali Condors, Energy Standard battle for win in 1st match of ISL playoffs:
Savard also swam to fourth in the women's 200-metre butterfly with a time of 2:06.98.
While the Canadian was in eighth place at one point in the race, Savard turned on the jets and catapulted into a near third-place finish, with Danish swimmer Helena Rosendahl Bach passing her in the final moments.
