Dressel The First Big-Star Swimmer Named For ISL Comeback All-Star Match
The nine-time Olympic champion and late bloomer breaststroke s/c world-record holder Van Mathias are the first athletes confirmed for the much-awaited return of the League in London next month. They will race for the United States Team
Caeleb Dressel and fellow American Van Mathias are the first star athletes to be named for the International Swimming League's All-Star Match, to be held at the London Aquatics Centre in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park on Saturday 19 December 2026.
Both will race for the United States Team. The ISL announced them as signed-up swimmers today. The ISL's potted profile for Dressel reads:
Caeleb Dressel (United States): A nine-time Olympic champion and 15-time world champion, Dressel holds the world record in the 100m butterfly and was the defining swimmer of the ISL’s original seasons, starring for Cali Condors, the 2020 champions, and setting world records in the league’s pool in Budapest that year, including a 100m individual medley short-course mark that still stands.
Van Mathias, meanwhile, recently clocked a world s/c record of 55.14 in the 100m breaststroke at the US Short Course World Championship Trials in Westmont, Illinois:
Craig Lord
He's a late bloomer with an unusual career path. Having never made a national team, he retired after the 2023 NCAA Championships to become director of operations for Indiana University’s swimming programme. He then returned to training in 2025 and soon proved himself to be a different swimmer. Just a year on, in August this year, he won the 100m breaststroke at the Pan Pacific Championships and clocked an astonishing 57.30 splitting the mixed medley relay in which the USA set a World record:
Craig Lord
Mathias was not a pick for any team in the first seasons of the ISL. He will now make his League debut in London.
Ben Allen, Commissioner of the International Swimming League, said:
“Caeleb Dressel was the face of the ISL’s original seasons, and Van Mathias is the comeback story of American swimming this year, from running a college programme’s operations to a world record relay and now a world record of his own. On 19 December they will race for the United States Team in front of a London crowd, and the names alongside them will follow.”
Further United States Team star athletes and the stars of the Commonwealth, Europe and Intercontinental Teams to follow in the coming weeks ahead of the full team rosters later in November.
The All-Star Match will bring the world’s best swimmers to London in four teams, Commonwealth, United States, Europe and Intercontinental, racing for the largest prize pool ever offered for a single night of competitive swimming.
Tickets for the All-Star Match are on sale now through Ticketmaster, with full details at isl.global:
