Hali Flickinger Building Speed, Power; Leads Cali Condors into ISL Final

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Photo Courtesy: Mine Kasapoglu / ISL

Hali Flickinger Building Speed, Power; Leads Cali Condors into ISL Final

It is clear the International Swimming League (ISL) swimmers have been building on their performances throughout the season.

World records and national records have fallen, while many swimmers have found a way to score points in a variety of events for their teams.

The progression has been even more evident in some of the longer races in the ISL.

Hali Flickinger has embodied that throughout the ISL season. While a shorter season in a bubble left plenty of questions coming into Budapest, Flickinger wasn’t questioning her training or her plan.

“Bob (Bowman) had a plan when we got here to make sure that I am getting better and stronger in the water, because after ISL, there is still a mission afterward,” said Flickinger, who finished second in the 200 fly at the 2019 World Championships. “It is building that momentum and making sure I am in shape. It was part of the plan.”

It is working.

Flickinger has continued to get stronger, while still managing to swim several of the longer events in the ISL.

On Monday, she won the 200 butterfly in 2:04.25, seven hundredths off of her best time in the event. Nearly a half hour later, Flickinger still had enough in the tank to win the 400 IM.

Not only did she win, but her 4:27.07 was her best time by nearly two seconds.

She said watching Caeleb Dressel’s world record in the 100 IM gave her a huge boost of energy.

“It did a lot for me. I can’t speak for everybody, but I was ready to go after that. It is infectious. Seeing that you want to be able to do as much as you can for the team,” she said.

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Hali Flickinger. Photo Courtesy: Mine Kasapoglu / ISL

Flickinger has been building toward that all season after her move to train with Bowman.

“I definitely came into this season in full-on training. When we first got here, you could see that my first meet was not very good. I was full training when I got here to make sure that I was able to sustain all the way through,” Flickinger said.

Flickinger has the second-fastest time in the 200 butterfly (2:04.18) this season and is fifth-fastest in the 400 IM (4:27.07).

She also has the fourth-fastest time in the 400 free this season (3:59.7), the ninth-fastest time in the 200 backstroke (2:02.99) and the 11th-fastest time in the 200 freestyle (1:54.70).

She has scored a ton of points for the Condors, who are undefeated heading into the ISL final.

“Personally, I get caught up in times still, but I love that in these meets, that aspect is taken away a little bit. You just look up for your name and your teammate’s name. We are trying make sure those Condors signs are up at the top of the scoreboard,” Hali Flickinger said. “It feels great (to be in the final). We came into this whole thing with a mission to make the finals and potentially win, so it is really good to have the momentum continuing.”

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