Olympic swimmers who challenged the sport’s governing body in a U.S. court are set to receive a multi-million-dollar settlement for their participation in a breakaway series.
“World Aquatics is setting up a fund of $4.6 million that will be distributed to swimmers who signed contracts to compete in the International Swimming League (ISL) event in Turin in 2018 and in the 2019 ISL season,” the governing body said Monday in a statement.
Three Olympic and world champions – Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu and Americans Tom Shields and Michael Andrew – filed an antitrust lawsuit in California in 2018 after the governing body, then known as FINA, attempted to block the ISL from operating independently.
The Lausanne-based organization initially threatened to ban swimmers from competition if they participated in the Ukraine-backed series, which offered higher prize money than traditional events.
The rival event pushed the governing body to increase prize money for athletes at its own world championships and World Cup meetings.
“The settlement fund will ensure swimmers are more than fully compensated following the 2018 and 2019 ISL seasons,” World Aquatics said Monday, adding it “looks forward to the court’s approval of the settlement.”
The ISL series was paused in 2022 in the fallout from the Russian military invasion of Ukraine.
World Aquatics President Husain Al Musallam said many of the swimmers who committed to the ISL “were badly let down.”
“However, I am pleased that we are finally able to step in and provide this significant sum of money for the swimmers,” he said in a statement.
A separate lawsuit by the ISL “remains pending,” World Aquatics said.
