Jamaica’s Alia Atkinson chalks first wins for London Roar in International Swimming League

Alia Atkinson chalked up wins, her first for the London Roar, in Budapest on Sunday.

When the gun sounded it was her excellent ‘underwaters’ gave her the early advantage and at the 25-metre wheel over point she increased her speed to leave the others in her wake as she took the victory in 29.20.

Silver went to Ida Hulkko of Team Iron in 29.45 and third to Martina Carraro of Aqua Centurions in 29.51.

Her impressive run in the 25-metre pool now stands at 11 victories that stretch back to 2016. The last time she was not on top of the podium was at the 2016 World Short Course Swimming Championships in Windsor, Canada where she won the silver medal.

She had another win as a member of the 4 x 100 medley relay. The London Roar, led off by Dutch national record holder Kira Toussaint, gave the team a slight edge.

Atkinson widened the lead with her split of 1:03.83 providing a cushion for her teammates, Frenchwoman Marie Wattel and Russian record holder in the 50-metre freestyle Maria Kameneva to get the job done in 3:50.27, winning by a margin of almost three seconds.

Reprinted from Sportsmax