WASHINGTON – Chase Kalisz will make his International Swimming League debut less than 30 miles from the city where hours of practise alongside Michael Phelps helped propel him to the silver medal in the 400m individual medley at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
The 25-year-old was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and trained with 23-times Olympic champion Phelps under Bob Bowman at North Baltimore Aquatic Club (NBAC) before moving to the University of Georgia.
Alongside his Olympic silver, Kalisz has claimed five World Championship medals including gold in both the 200 and 400IM at the 2017 edition in Budapest, Hungary.
This weekend he is set to compete for the first time in the ISL where he will represent LA Current which is looking to confirm its place at the grand final in Las Vegas on 20-21 December.
Cali Condors sits top of the United States standings ahead of LA Current, DC Trident and New York Breakers with the top two qualifying for the finale at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino where they will meet their European counterparts.
For Kalisz, not only will this weekend’s competition at College Park, Maryland, mean returning close to home but it will also pit him against his room-mate, team-mate and world silver medallist Jay Litherland.
He said: “I grew up about an hour and 15 away.
“It’s good to be back. I grew up swimming under Bob and with Michael so this isn’t too far. I’ve never really swum in this pool - once or twice - I swam meets more local to where I was from in Baltimore.
“I think it’s great (to be here). This is one of the best pools we have in this country and it never gets used.”
Injury hampered Kalisz at the 2019 World Championships in Gwangju, South Korea, where he finished 10th as Litherland took silver.
Kalisz said: “He lives with me and trains with me. We are quite close, we pretty much do everything together.
“He lives upstairs and takes care of my dogs sometimes.
“Once we are in the pool, we focus, we work hard, we race each other, we go head to head all the time but once we are out we don’t really talk about swimming, we don’t ever kind of go ‘I’m going to kick your ass here’ or anything like that.
“I just need racing experience. It’s just about me getting in and giving my all and figuring out my race plan.”
Litherland added: “It will be fun. He missed the first two meets so I don’t really know what he is going to put up for the short-course metres.
“We have always been on the same team when we have been training but since we are on separate teams we are definitely more competitive but it’s fun. I love doing this.
“He is a fierce competitor, he knows what he is doing in his race and I think I am the same way, we both have a certain way we swim the 400IM.”
Caeleb Dressel was MVP at the Naples edition and his Cali Condors team is in pole position to make it through.
He said: “We definitely don’t want to make any pre-judgements but the goal is to make it to Vegas. It’s been the goal from the start.
“Of course you want to make the championship and we are in a good spot. We set ourselves up with the first two meets to do that with the scoring system but we are looking good as of right now.
“But every meet we go to we want to try and win.”
Natalie Coughlin returned to competition for the first time since the 2016 Olympic trials at the Indianapolis leg.
Now 37 and a 12-times Olympic medallist, Coughlin sees how the swimmers appreciate being the focal point.
“I think the athletes feel very respected, they feel listened to, they buy into this because it has been proven that someone is going to listen to them.
“They feel validated. I think that is very refreshing.”
Coughlin, who represents DC Trident, became a mother little more than a year ago when she and husband Ethan Hall welcomed daughter Zennie Mae.
“Having a kid is such a blessing: she is one of the easiest babies,” said Coughlin. “She is going to be here this weekend. She has her DC Trident onesie which she is going to wear, it’s going to be so cute. Hopefully it’s not too loud.”
For further text, images, video and information go to http://apmultimedianewsroom.com/multimedia-newsroom/partners/international-swimming-league
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.
16 November 2019
