International Swimming League Announces European Coaches for All-Star Match
The International Swimming League (ISL) has today announced the coaches of the Europe Team, the third of the four teams that will contest the ISL All-Star Match at the London Aquatics Centre in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park on Saturday, December 19, 2026.
The Europe Team will be coached by Ben Titley, Luka Gabrilo, Massimo Meloni and Patrick Pearson, with Titley as head coach: four coaches drawn from Europe’s leading programmes, from Spain’s national training centre to the High Performance Centre Eindhoven and the Swiss national centre in Tenero, whose swimmers have won Olympic titles and world championship medals, and one of whom, Gabrilo, led Team Iron in the ISL’s third season. They are the third coaching staff confirmed for the All-Star Match, in which the Europe Team will face the Commonwealth, United States and Intercontinental teams for the largest prize pool ever offered for a single night of competitive swimming.
Ben Allen, Commissioner of the International Swimming League, said: “This is a coaching staff with Olympic champions, world medallists and record holders behind it, from Spain, Switzerland and the Netherlands to Canada and beyond. Ben led one of the great Canadian groups of the last decade, Luka took Team Iron through our third season, Massimo has made Noè Ponti one of the best butterfly swimmers in the world and Patrick has shaped Dutch sprinting for more than a decade. The third of our four teams is taking shape, and the names in the water will follow.”
The Europe Team’s star athletes will be announced in the coming weeks, along with the coaches of the Intercontinental Team. Tickets for the All-Star Match are on sale now through Ticketmaster, with full details at isl.global.
The European Team Coaches
Ben Titley (Head Coach): Currently head coach of the Spanish national team and of Spain’s National Training Centre at Sant Cugat, he has served as head Olympic coach to Great Britain, Canada and Spain. Athletes he has coached include multiple Olympic and world champions and world record holders, among them Penny Oleksiak, Summer McIntosh, Kylie Masse, Maggie MacNeil, Josh Liendo, Taylor Ruck and Liam Tancock. He currently coaches Spain’s young freestyle sensation Luca Hoek.
Luka Gabrilo: Head coach of Team Iron in ISL Season 3, where his roster included Katinka Hosszú and Kristóf Milák. Gabrilo served as head coach of the Israeli national team from 2017 through the Tokyo Olympics, after coaching the Swiss national team and working alongside David Marsh in the United States. He is currently head coach of the Azerbaijani national team.
Massimo Meloni: The Rome-born coach of Swiss star Noè Ponti, whom he has guided to Olympic 100m butterfly bronze at Tokyo and two silver medals at the 2025 World Championships. Based at the national centre in Tenero, Meloni swam for and later coached at Circolo Canottieri Aniene in Rome, and his group has drawn names including Matthew Sates.
Patrick Pearson: A mainstay of Dutch elite swimming at the High Performance Centre Eindhoven, Pearson is contracted by the national federation through the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics as it concentrates TeamNL’s top swimmers. Assistant to Jacco Verhaeren ahead of London 2012, he then coached Olympic champion Ranomi Kromowidjojo and the Netherlands’ leading sprinters, most notably Marrit Steenbergen, a multiple world champion and the current 100m freestyle world record holder.