Caeleb Dressel, Van Mathias Revealed as First U.S. Stars for ISL All-Star Match
The International Swimming League (ISL) has today announced Caeleb Dressel and Van Mathias as the first star athletes of the United States Team for the All-Star Match, to be held at the London Aquatics Centre in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park on Saturday, December 19, 2026. They are the first athletes confirmed for the event, with further United States Team star athletes to be announced shortly.
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 (United States): The 100m breaststroke short-course world record holder, Mathias set his mark of 55.14 at the US Short Course World Championship Trials in Westmont, Illinois, on 29 October, taking 0.14 seconds off a record that had stood since 2021. He retired after the 2023 NCAA Championships to become director of operations for Indiana University’s swimming programme, returned to training in 2025 and in August won the 100m breaststroke at the Pan Pacific Championships, where he swam the breaststroke leg as the United States set a world record in the mixed 4x100m medley relay. He makes his ISL 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.”
Dressel and Mathias are the first of the star athletes to be revealed, with 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.
The above press release was provided to Swimming World by the International Swimming League.
