International Swimming League to pay overdue 2021 prize money, eyes comeback

Zhanle Pan of China celebrates after winning the gold medal in the Men's 4 X 100m Medley Relay during the 2024 Paris Olympic Games at La Defense Arena in Paris, Aug. 4, 2024. Yonhap

The International Swimming League (ISL) will pay more than 300 athletes long-overdue prize money owed from its 2021 season, Commissioner Ben Allen told Reuters, as the professional swimming circuit seeks to rebuild trust and relaunch after years of inactivity.

Allen said the ISL would pay all the prize money owed, with just over $7 million due to about 312 athletes who were being informed in a letter from the ISL being sent out on Sunday.

Among the notable swimmers set to receive payments are multiple Olympic champions Ryan Murphy, Sarah Sjostrom and Summer McIntosh.

Payments will be made in four instalments of 25 percent, with the first scheduled by the end of this year and the rest expected annually, though the league would accelerate the process if possible. Some Russian athletes will have to wait longer to receive their funds due to technical issues regarding their bank accounts.

"We are paying our 2021 prize money," Allen said in an interview where he broke news of the payments.

"It's unfortunate that it's been a couple of years. We've been hit by a couple of different issues — the war in Europe, COVID. We had a lot of challenges but we're at the point where we can do it now.

"It's an obligation we've always said that we're going to fulfil."

'Not turning our backs'

Launched in 2019, the ISL sought to professionalize elite swimming through a team-based competition model and attracted many of the sport's biggest names. It has not held a season since 2021.

Allen said total athlete compensation for the 2021 season was north of $10 million, including roughly 25 percent in "solidarity payments" designed to support swimmers during the COVID-19 pandemic, when competition opportunities were limited.

Those solidarity payments had been completed, he said, leaving the remaining 75 percent — just over $7 million — in performance-based prize money.

"We are not turning our backs on our athletes and we're going to fulfil our obligations."

Allen said the payments would be made with no reductions or conditions attached and would apply to active and retired athletes alike.

"Everyone will get 100 persent," he said. "They earned the money. They swam, they competed, they performed, they deserve it."

ISL comeback

Allen said the league's original financiers remained supportive, including ISL founder Konstantin Grigorishin, who he said was still involved in the organization and its planned relaunch.

He said the delays were caused by the pandemic, which increased costs and made sponsorship more difficult, and by the impact of the war in Europe on Grigorishin, a Ukrainian billionaire and the league's main financier.

Allen also cited the ISL's legal victory over World Aquatics in the U.S. federal court in January as a significant development that could improve the league's commercial prospects.

He said the ISL hoped to stage an event in 2026 before a fuller comeback in 2027, though details remain unresolved.

The league is considering reorganizing teams geographically, entering new markets and adjusting its event format to make competitions more attractive to travelling spectators and broadcasters.

"There are a lot of things which are still up in the air," Allen said.

"The main news is that we didn't turn our back on the community. We're paying everyone everything. We'll need a bit of time, but everyone will get everything and then we can move on."