Jamaica’s Queen of the Pool, Alia Atkinson, has been listed among the London Roar’s protected athletes for the coming International Swimming League (ISL) season.

Atkinson had an outstanding season with the London Roar last season after leaving Team Iron, the team she swam for in 2019. She concluded the season ranked as the 15th-highest earner among all swimmers, both women, and men, as well as the 21st-highest point scorer.

During the final in Budapest, Hungary on November 15, the Jamaican Olympian just missed out on the 100m breaststroke world record of 1:02.36, clocking 1:02.66 for victory in the first semifinal. Up to that point, it was the fastest time in the world.

Four of the 10 ISL clubs have now announced the names of their respective ‘protected’ athletes – ISL swimmers who have confirmed their commitment to remain on their current team if selected by the team’s general manager, or if elected by the fans online during the ISL Draft set for June 29-30.

London Roar and LA Current are the second set of clubs to announce their lists – after Cali Condors and Energy Standard. Team Iron and Tokyo Frog Kings are expected to make their announcements tomorrow (June 9), while Toronto Titans and NY Breakers will make theirs on Thursday, June 10. DC Trident and Aqua Centurions will do theirs on Friday, June 11.

On June 22, each of the 10 ISL clubs will announce the first five swimmers from the 15 that they can ultimately retain.

Any registered athlete who has not committed to remain on their current team will enter the ISL Draft Pool as an ISL rookie swimmer, while any ISL swimmer who has confirmed their commitment to their current ISL team, but has not been retained, will enter the ISL Draft Pool as an ISL veteran swimmer.

Below is the list of London Roar’s protected swimmers:

Adam Peaty, Alex Graham, Alia Atkinson, Andreas Vazaios, Anna Hopkin, Annie Lazor, Bronte Campbell, Cate Campbell, Christian Diener, Darragh Greene, Duncan Scott, Elliot Clogg, Emily Large, Emma Mckeon, Freya Anderson, Guido Guilherme, Holly Barratt, Holly Hibbott, James Guy, Kathleen Dawson, Katsumi Nakamura, Kira Toussaint, Kirill Prigoda, Kyle Chalmers, Luke Greenbank, Maria Kameneva, Marie Wattel, Marius Kusch, Matthew Wilson, Mikhail Vekovischev, Minna Atherton, Sydney Pickrem, Tom Dean, Vini Lanza.

Once the ISL Draft has concluded, Clubs’ general managers will finalise their respective teams’ rosters, to a maximum of 36 swimmers each, through direct negotiations with the remaining swimmers from the ISL Draft Pool only.