2018 Energy for Swim Meet Cancelled after Negotiations Break Down

The 2018 Energy for Swim meet scheduled for December in Turin, Italy has been cancelled. The news first came on Thursday morning via Adam Peaty‘s Instagram account, where he said he was “incredibly disappointed.”

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“I’m incredibly disappointed next month’s swim meet in Turin has been cancelled because of politics,” Peaty said. “As swimmers who represent our country and are passionate about our sport, we need to ask why. I firmly believe that the athletes should be at the heart of any decision made by our governing body and this is just what our sport and the athletes need. I think this is the wrong decision and it will galvanize the swimmers, not break them.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/BqM2k-hl5W0/

 

 

By the terms of the agreements, athletes who have signed contracts, including most recently American Olympian Josh Prenot, who signed on Wednesday, they will still receive 50% of their appearance money. When announced earlier this year, the meet was scheduled to offer $2.1 million in prize and appearance money.

We have reached out to several athletes involved for further comment or to see if they will now attempt to scramble and race at the Short Course World Championships as a result of the cancellation.

We have also reached out to meet organizers to see if they have any plans to proceed with an anti-trust lawsuit as a result of the cancellation, as Italian attorney and law professor Stefano Bastianon says they would have a strong case, based on the International Skating Union ruling by the European Commission in a similar case. We have not yet heard back from organizers, but will respond when we do.

Organizers told SwimSwam this week that the Italian Federation, which was attempting to host the meet, was negotiating feverishly with FINA, but the cancellation indicates that those negotiations broke down.

SIGNED CONTRACTS

Athlete Nation
1 Adam Peaty GBR
2 Alessandro Miressi ITA
3 Alexandr Krasnykh RUS
4 Anastasia Fesikova RUS
5 Andrew Minakov RUS
6 Arianna Castiglione ITA
7 Bethany Galat USA
8 Cameron van der Burgh RSA
9 Chad Le Clos RSA
10 Chase Kalisz USA
11 Danas Rapsys LTU
12 David Verraszto HUN
13 Duncan Scott GBR
14 Emily Seebohm AUS
15 Federica Pellegrini ITA
16 Femke Heermskerk NED
17 Gabriele Detti ITA
18 Georgia Davies GBR
19 Gregorio Paltrinieri ITA
20 Gunnar Bentz USA
21 Jacob Pebley USA
22 James Guy GBR
23 Josh Prenot USA
24 Katie Meili USA
25 Katinka Hosszu HUN
26 Kendyl Stewart USA
27 Kliment Kolesnikov RUS
28 Kristian Gkolomeev GRE
29 Laszlo Cseh HUN
30 Lia Neal USA
31 Lisa Bratton USA
32 Luca Dotto ITA
33 Margherita Panziera ITA
34 Maria Ugolkova RUS
35 Mark Szaranek GBR
36 Max Litchfield GBR
37 Mehdy Metella FRA
38 Michael Andrew USA
39 Michelle Coleman SWE
40 Mikhail Romanchuk UKR
41 Pieter Timmers BEL
42 Ranomi Kromowidjojo NED
43 Ryan Murphy USA
44 Sarah Sjostrom SWE
45 Sergey Fesikov RUS
46 Sergii Shevtsov UKR
47 Simona Quadarella ITA
48 Simone Manuel USA
49 Siobhan O’Connor GBR
50 Tom Shields USA
51 Veronika Andrusenko RUS

Energy for Swim is a SwimSwam partner.

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Anonymous
5 years ago

Is this about money? Such things often are.

Chuck
5 years ago

Premise #1: More events are good because more events require infusion of more capital in the sport–whether they are commercially successful or not. Also, the likelihood of the capital coming from more sources than it does currently increases when there are more events annually.

Premise #2: Operating outside of FINA’s jurisdiction is a good thing. See premise #1

Premise #3: Running one great event every four years doesn’t make you a worthwhile organization. If anything, it’s proof positive that you’re a terrible organization because you can only manage to run one great event every four years. See premise #2

Premise #4: If we’re to see a more commercially viable sport that (1) provides more financial opportunities for swimmers and (2)… Read more »

ripFINA
5 years ago

FINA won’t last much longer as the world governing body. Pathetic.

justanopinion
5 years ago

This is only a beginning. At some point the NGB’s are going to realize that the threat of suspension isn’t going to work. When FINA and the sponsors the NGB’s are beholden to (NBC, Coke, etc.) that the athletes have awoken and make a decision to be financially secure vs. the paper tiger threat of said suspension – things will change quickly. Look at that list!!! The Olympics would be hugely affected if FINA dared to suspend everyone on that list. Suspensions would never have happened….it’s upsetting because it really looked this time as if the athletes were ready to do this and put up a fight to earn the right to have ownership over their careers.
If I… Read more »

Oldy
5 years ago

FINA is holding back so many great athletes. The sport of swimming needs these type of events to continue pushing great collegiate athletes into the international field and not just stop after college. I hope ENERGY and honestly other countries begin making more of these fun competitions.

Hopefully swimming can grow into an actual pro sport

Luigi
5 years ago

This was going to be a dream meet. Fina decided it was against the rules only after it realized how much more attractive it was than sanctioned meets (including short course WC). I hope someone brings the case before the competent courts and they get their ass kicked.

Noflykick
5 years ago

This is very annoying. Since when was FINA anointed a deity with the absolute authority to say when and where people can hold swim races? The swimmers should get together, find a pool, have some races, time each other with their watches, and collectively buy dinner for each winner as a prize. Basically say, “I’m a swimmer and I’ll race when I want to, where I want to, and against whom I want to.”

ERVINFORTHEWIN
Reply to  Noflykick
5 years ago

” and still have fun with it “

Zhenia
5 years ago

This is how we lost one more World Championships this year. The list of athletes was amazing 🙁

About Braden Keith

Braden Keith

Braden Keith is the Editor-in-Chief and a co-founder/co-owner of SwimSwam.com. He first got his feet wet by building The Swimmers' Circle beginning in January 2010, and now comes to SwimSwam to use that experience and help build a new leader in the sport of swimming. Aside from his life on the InterWet, …

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