Abbie Wood and Joe Litchfield picked up where they left off to kickstart match four of the 2020 International Swimming League (ISL) campaign in brilliant form for New York Breakers.
Wood and Litchfield were among the outstanding British athletes across the opening week of the competition – and they again mixed it with the best in Budapest on Monday afternoon.
After finishing fourth in their first match of the season, the Breakers are better placed to boost their semi-final hopes this time around, with David Hemmings-coached Wood playing her part individually and with an impressive relay swim.
The versatile National Centre Loughborough swimmer replicated an eye-catching second-place finish from last week’s Women’s 200m Individual Medley, again touching second (and earning seven valuable points for New York) behind Melanie Margalis after leading for the first 150m of an exciting display.
More exciting still was the fact that the 21-year-old earned that result so soon after anchoring her Breakers quartet to third in the Women’s 4x100m Freestyle Relay, recording the quickest leg of her team in the process.
Abbie’s Loughborough training partner Joe Litchfield – another tutored under Hemmings – was an even more productive point supplier for the Breakers on a brilliant afternoon for the Pontefract-born athlete.
He kicked off the session with a powerful swim in the Men’s 100m Butterfly to finish second, before going on to register another second place in the 50m Backstroke later on.
As further proof of his improving strength across the board, Litchfield split those two placings with an impressive third in the 200m Individual Medley, with both his butterfly and backstroke legs catching the eye.
There was also a ‘podium place’ finish for Ross Murdoch in the Men’s 200m Breaststroke, the University of Stirling man pipping British international compatriot James Wilby into third to boost Team Iron’s chances in the match. That was the best result so far this ISL season for Murdoch, who trains under the guidance of Steven Tigg.
Meanwhile, there were fourth-place results for Molly Renshaw – in the Women’s 200m Breaststroke event – and Matthew Richards, a key performer in one of New York’s Men’s 4x100m Freestyle Relay quads.
At the halfway stage of match four, Cali Condors are in control with 321.5 points to their name – but an intriguing day two battle awaits between the Breakers (210 points) and Team Iron (199). DC Trident are fourth on 146.5.
Over the weekend, match three of the ISL season had seen maiden outings for new teams Toronto Titans and Tokyo Frog Kings.
Among the Titans’ squad were Brits Jocelyn Ulyett and Jay Lelliott. Ulyett produced a fine swim to place third in the Women’s 200m Breaststroke – as well as fifth in the 100m event – while Lelliott was fifth in the Men’s 200m Butterfly – one of four categories he competed in over the two days of competition.
Toronto ultimately placed third in the match, though, with LA Current running out victors.
Head over to the Swimming News section of the British Swimming website to catch up on the progress of our athletes out in Budapest so far in ISL 2020...