Two-time T&T Olympic swimmer, Dylan Carter and his London Roar team-mates will splash off the eight-team semifinal playoffs of the 2021 International Swimming League on Match Day Two from November 13-14 in Eindhoven, Holland.
Following the preliminary rounds in Naples, Italy, the six Match Days semifinals will be held at the Pieter Van Den Hoogenband Stadium, starting from November 11-18 until the final two-day meet scheduled for November 27-28 at the same venue.
At the end of the semifinals, the top four teams will advance to the finals carded for February 7-9, 2022 at a venue yet to be determined.
A former member of the LA Current for the first two editions of the ISL, the 25-year-old Carter has so far won nine medals and US$15,650 of his team's $377,000 earnings while competing in four Match Days of the ten-Match Days preliminary which ended last month.
T&T's first-ever Commonwealth Games swimming medal winner, Carter's medal tally included four gold, three silver, and two bronze which helped his team to 13 points from a maximum of 16 and third spot on the ten-club standings to be among the automatic semifinal qualifiers.
The Energy Standard topped the table with maximum 16 points from their allotted four Match Days after they ended as the lone undefeated team, one point ahead of defending champions Cali Condors while Toronto Titans (12) and LA Current (11), Carter’s former club, and Team Iron (11) were fourth and fifth respectively.
They were joined as qualifiers to the semifinals by Aqua Centurions (ten) and DC Trident (nine) while the pair of Tokyo Frog Kings (seven) and New York Breakers (six) missed out.
The DC Trident and Iron were the last two teams to book their tickets to Eindhoven after they finished the playoffs for the four teams at the bottom of the table in the 1-2 positions in Naples.
Under the new ISL playoff system this year, the eight teams have been split into four pairs that will compete against each other in each of their playoff matches.
The exact pairings were determined by a draw – the first and second place teams drew for who would face seventh or eighth, while the third and fourth place teams drew for who would face fifth or sixth.
Ultimately, both pairings wound up flipping from their seed as the Energy Standard drew DC Trident and Cali Condors was matched against Team Iron.
And in the other draws, Carter's London Roar was paired with his former club LA Current while Toronto drew Aqua Centurions.
While the competition resumes on November 11 and 12, Carter, who is currently in T&T enjoying a mini-break, and doing some light training, and London Roar dives into action on Match Day Two (November 13 and 14), against Toronto Titans (#4), LA Current (#5) and Aqua Centurions (#6).
The London Roar then return to action in Match Day Four on November 21 and 22 against second-seeded Cali Condors, LA Current and eighth-ranked Team Iron, before their third and final outing in Match Day Five carded for November 25 and 26 versus top-ranked Energy Standard, LA Current and seventh-seeded DC Trident.
ISL PLAYOFF SCHEDULE
Match 1: Nov 11-12: #1 Energy Standard, #2 Cali Condors, #7 DC Trident, #8 Iron
Match 2: Nov 13-14: #3 London Roar, #4 Toronto Titans, #5 LA Current, #6 Aqua Centurion
Match 3: Nov 18-19: #1 Energy Standard, #4 Toronto Titans, #6 Aqua Centurions, #7 DC Trident
Match 4: Nov 20-21: #2 Cali Condors, #3 London Roar, #5 LA Current, #8 Iron
Match 5: Nov 25-26: #1 Energy Standard, #3 London Roar, #5 LA Current, #7 DC Trident
Match 6: Nov 27-28: #2 Cali Condors, #4 Toronto Titans, #6 Aqua Centurions, #8 Iron
Dylan Carter's medals won in 2021 ISL:
Gold:
4 x 100 metres freestyle relay - 3:06.50
50m butterfly - 22.40
4 x 100m freestyle relay - 3:05.84
4 x 100m freestyle relay - 3:05.05
Silver:
4 x 100m freestyle relay quartet - 3:07.62
4 x 100m medley relay - 3:22.93
50m butterfly - 22.42
Bronze:
50m butterfly - 22.36 (national record)
50m butterfly - 22.62