Caeleb Dressel Returning for Cali Condors’ Second ISL Match; Hali Flickinger to Make Season Debut

DRESSEL Caeleb CAC Cali Condors (CAC) ISL International Swimming League 2021 Match 6 day 1 Piscina Felice Scandone Napoli, Naples Photo Giorgio Scala / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

Photo Courtesy: Giorgio Scala / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

Caeleb Dressel Returning for Cali Condors’ Second ISL Match; Hali Flickinger to Make Season Debut

American superstar Caeleb Dressel missed the Cali Condors’ final match-and-a-half of the ISL regular season, and he was also absent for Cali’s ISL playoff debut last week. But the five-time gold medalist from the Tokyo Olympics has arrived in Eindhoven, and he will be in action as Cali takes on London Roar, LA Current and Team Iron in the fourth playoff match. The match begins at 7 p.m. local time (1 p.m. ET in the USA).

On Saturday’s schedule, Dressel will not be in the 100 fly at the start of the meet as Jose Martinez and Marcin Cieslak swim for the Condors. But Dressel will race in the 50 free as well as on both relays. He will anchor Cali’s 400 free relay after Kacper Majchrzak, Jesse Puts and Justin Ress, and then he will swim on the 400 medley relay with Coleman Stewart, Nic Fink and Ress.

In the 50 free, Dressel will be in lane four while London Roar’s Kyle Chalmers is in lane five. The two will be racing head-to-head for the first time since Dressel beat Chalmers by just six hundredths for Olympic gold in the 100 free. Since then, Chalmers has broken the short course meters world record in the 100 free, and the two will likely face off in that event Sunday. Chalmers’ new world record (44.84) could come under fire in two weeks in the ISL final when the two are expected to race again.

Also competing Saturday will be Cali’s Hali Flickinger, who did not compete in the regular season or in the first playoff match. Flickinger, the Olympic bronze medalist in the 200 fly, will compete in the 200 back, 200 IM and 400 free on Saturday before her signature event comes up on Sunday’s schedule.

Check out the full start list for the match here.

Even without Dressel and Flickinger, the Condors won their first playoff match, narrowly defeating top rival Energy Standard after Maaike de Waard won women’s skins (backstroke) and Ress took first in the men’s event. Cali has lost only once this season, to London in Match #6, and this match will be the first time those two teams meet since then.

Name*

Email*

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use