Jamaica’s champion swimmer Alia Atkinson recently made a winning return to the pool, copping both the 50-metre and 100-metre breaststroke for her London Roar team to get their campaign at the third edition of the International Swimming League (ISL) under way in Naples, Italy.

Atkinson took a brief break from the pool following a fifth Olympic appearance at the 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo last month, where she also called time on her quest for the elusive Olympic medal.

However, the 32-year-old, in her second season with London Roar, returned well rested for her first outing since then, and once again paraded her ability with stubborn determination in Match Three at Piscina Felice Scandone.

In the 50m breaststroke on day one, Atkinson, a short-course stalwart, came off the turn well to sweep by 16-year-old Italian Benedetta Pilato, to win in 29.73s. Pilato of Energy Standard was second in 29.80s, with Finland’s Ida Hulkko (29.98s) of Team Iron, third.

That swim may have possibly been the push Atkinson needed to get going, as she returned on day two to easily win her pet event, the 100m breaststroke for which she is the world short course record holder.

Atkinson, swimming from lane five, left the blocks well and with her crisp underwater pull-out, went straight to the lead approaching the first turn, and from there, it was mere formality.

The Jamaican covered the first 50m in 29.98 and the second in 34.1 seconds, to comfortably register her sixth pro career win in the event in 1:04.09.

Atkinson was 1.1 seconds faster from a flat start than she had been on the medley relay (1:05.2) and had the only sub-30 seconds clocking in the field.

She won ahead of 16-year-old Russian Evgenia Chikunova (1:04.86) of Energy Standard, with her London Roar teammate Annie Lazor (1:05.23), making it a one-three finish for the now Steven Tigg-coached team.

With those performances virtually signalling her intent, Atkinson is confidently expected to add to her accolades when she next takes the pool tomorrow and then Sunday for Match Six.

At that time, the London Roar will square off against defending champions Cali Condors, Aqua Centurions and Tokyo Frog Kings.

London Roar occupied fifth position on three points, prior to Match Five which was started yesterday and will end today.

This third season of the ISL, will take place in three phases. Naples is serving as host for the first phase, also known as the Regular Season, which will see the 10 clubs competing over a six-week period in a ‘bubble’ setting of sorts, similar to what transpired last year in Budapest.

Once the regular season concludes at the end of September, the league will take a break before resuming with play-off action in Eindhoven in November, when the top eight clubs will compete for a spot in the ISL final.

The ISL Grand Finale is set to take place at the end of December.

Atkinson’s London Roar made the finals of the first two ISL seasons, losing to Energy Standard of France in 2019 and the Cali Condors of the United States last year. They will be hoping a third time will prove the charm on this occasion.

It was last year that Atkinson marked her competitive return with the Roar after months of inactivity due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

She previously represented Hungary’s Team Iron in the inaugural season in 2019, but her 2020 season with London Roar had strong performances, highlighted by her 100m breaststroke win in the semi-finals in a time of 1:02:66 minutes, the eighth-fastest time in the short course format.

Atkinson currently shares the world record of 1:02:36 minutes with Lithuania’s Ruta Meilutyte and has seven of the 10 fastest times in the event.