Ledecky Becomes Ambassador For New Pro Swim League

Keeping Up with Katie: The latest news and information about the Olympic champion swimmer and Montgomery County’s own Katie Ledecky.

Katie Ledecky announced Tuesday that she will serve as an ambassador for the newly formed International Swimming League. The ISL will field eight teams, four from Europe and four from the U.S., including the Cali Condors out of San Francisco, the Las Angeles Current, and the New York Breakers, as well as the D.C. Trident.

Ledecky, along with other American and International ISL ambassadors, tweeted their involvement with the league yesterday soon after its 2019 season announcement. “I’m an ISL ambassador because I believe in its mission: to shift the paradigm of swimming in the U.S and around the globe,” she tweeted.

The inaugural season is scheduled to start on October 4 and 5, and will hold meets most weekends through November 24, with meets in both the U.S. and Europe. The finals, which will consist of the four top teams in the league, will take place in Las Vegas on December 20 and 21.

The ISL’s main goal is to provide high-caliber swimmers the chance to compete more regularly, and according to the league, 75 percent of current Olympic champions and world record holders will compete in ISL matches.”

Right now, there are a limited number of events for professional swimmers besides the summer Olympics and the annual World Aquatics Championships, which will be held in South Korea this July.

Ledecky has only competed in one competition so far in 2019, a TYR Pro Series meet in January, but she is competing in the TYR Pro Series meet in Richmond starting today while still in training for Worlds this summer. She was attracted to the ISL because of its opportunities to compete, but also because of its efforts towards gender equality.

“[It] represents a new era for professional swimming, especially for competitive women like me,” Ledecky said.

Final rosters and the formal meet schedule are expected to be released within the next few weeks. For more information and updates about the league, visit the ISL website.

I’m excited to announce that I’ll be serving as an ambassador for @SwimISL, the world’s first professional swimming league! pic.twitter.com/aKmBK3olyD

— Katie Ledecky (@katieledecky) April 9, 2019

About Sam Merrill

Intern at Montgomery Community Media, senior broadcast journalism major at the University of Maryland.

View all posts by Sam Merrill