ISL Names U.S. Coaches for All-Star Match
Cyndi Gallagher, Todd DeSorbo and Carol Capitani will lead the U.S. team at the December 19 event in London.
Updated on Nov. 2, 2026 in Swimming
The International Swimming League named Cyndi Gallagher as head coach of the U.S. team for the ISL All-Star Match, with Todd DeSorbo and Carol Capitani as support staff. The match is scheduled for December 19 in London.
Why it matters
The announcement fills in part of the coaching lineup for a competition that will pit Commonwealth, U.S., European and Intercontinental teams against one another. The staffing follows a period of strong short-course results from swimmers trained by the named coaches.
The announcement is the second of four coaching staff appointments for the competition, after the Commonwealth staff named last month. Five DeSorbo-trained swimmers qualified for the Short Course World Championships, though the full U.S. roster has yet to be named.
The players
Cyndi Gallagher
Gallagher is the longtime leader of the UCLA women's swim team and former head coach of the ISL's DC Trident.
Todd DeSorbo
DeSorbo is currently head coach at the University of Virginia.
Carol Capitani
Capitani is currently head coach of the University of Texas women's team.
Ben Allen
Allen is the commissioner of the International Swimming League, which announced the coaching appointments.
The details
ISL Commissioner Ben Allen named Gallagher, who previously led the league's DC Trident and the UCLA women's team, as U.S. head coach. DeSorbo, head coach at the University of Virginia, and Capitani, head coach of the University of Texas women's team, will serve as support staff.
Timeline
Last month: Commonwealth team coaches Dean Boxall, Byron MacDonald, Ben Higson and Rocco Meiring were named.
Early December: Short Course World Championships run in Beijing.
December 19: ISL All-Star Match takes place in London.
Season Trajectory
The ISL All-Star Match is positioned as a year-end competition that follows the short-course world championship cycle. Named coaching staffs for each team signal how the league is structuring its international team format ahead of December.
Fans following the ISL can track which swimmers are selected for the U.S. team once the roster is released. The December 19 match in London falls just under two weeks after the Short Course World Championships in Beijing.
The takeaway
Coaching assignments often hint at which swimmers and training groups will be prominent in upcoming international competition. Readers interested in the event should watch for the full team rosters in the coming weeks.
What happens next
The full U.S. roster and the European and Intercontinental coaching staffs are expected to be announced in the coming weeks.
Further reading
Explore more swimming coverage for context on the international competition calendar.
Source note: This article includes information reported by SwimSwam.
