American Olympic swimmer Cody Miller says that he received his International Swimming League solidarity payment for the 2021 season on Saturday.
Update for the swimming world out there…. I just received my ISL ‘Solidarity’ payment. Nice Holiday surprise. 3 years late… but I’m grateful they’re following through on the promise. Very cool.
— Cody Miller (@swimiller) December 14, 2024
Miller raced in only two seasons of the ISL in 2019 and 2021 for the D.C. Trident, skipping the 2020 “COVID-19 bubble” season. All swimmers who participated in the 2021 season, which wound up being the last season of the initial iteration of the global pro swim league, were promised $7,500 in five monthly installments. That was a decrease from the $15,000 that was offered for the 2020 season to help athletes endure the Olympic delay.
The league repeatedly had issues with making payments on time, a problem that was exacerbated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The solidarity payments were supposed to begin in October 2021.
The league’s financial backer Konstantin Grigorishin was born in the USSR and acquired Ukrainian citizenship in 2016. Most of the billionaire’s business holdings are located in Ukraine, and he has also made money via the import of energy and natural resources from Russia. In 2018, he was one of 322 Ukrainian citizens that the Russian Federation imposed sanctions against.
At least one of Grigorishin’s companies was seized by the Ukrainian government as a “strategically important enterprise,” a move that the government said was made “in connection with military necessity.”
Earlier this year, one swimmer told SwimSwam that they received a text message from ISL commissioner Ben Allen that the Tokyo Frog Kings’ solidarity payment had been sent to the team and that a plan was in place to make remaining payments. That swimmer, who is on another team, said at the time that they still had not been paid.
The invasion of Ukraine also cancelled the planned 4th season of the ISL, which was initially postponed to 2023. While people close to the league say that organizers have not given up hope of a revival, the league office has been quiet for several years and most of the teams’ prior general managers have moved on to other enterprises.
Athletes mulled a league boycott over non-payment in the 2021 season. Jean-François Salessy, the ex-general manager of the Energy Standard team, and Hubert Montcoudiol, the ex-commercial director of the International Swimming League, accused ISL of financial mismanagement in a letter sent to SwimSwam in September 2021. Salessy and Montcoudiol wrote that ISL has allegedly neglected to properly pay supporting vendors and people, like press officials, webmasters, team managers, and even some elite swimmers. Salessy and Montcoudiol did not name anyone specifically that has been victim to the alleged practices, but they wrote that what they have witnessed directly contradicts ISL’s promise to honor all obligations to suppliers ahead of season three.
The league also released a statement in 2020 that it has faced financial challenges, but that it wanted to move on despite said challenges. At that time, SwimSwam reported that multiple season one vendors hadn’t been paid their full amount owed, but the league vowed to pay all money owed before Season 3. The league also added that it was working for the greater good of the sport.
Energy Standard won the titles in the 8-team league in 2019 and 2021, while the Caeleb Dressel-led Cali Condors won the 2020 season. Miller finished ranked 182nd out of 308 swimmers in the season-long MVP standings.
Miller won two Olympic medals in 2016: gold in the 400 medley relay and bronze individually in the 100 breaststroke.
never say never…
Hmm…
Where’d the money come from to pay Miller? And why would they actually go through with paying him if it’s clear they are essentially defunct and not paying up elsewhere? You can’t tell me this is some altruistic move by ISL management, that wouldn’t align with anything we’ve seen from them…ever.
Yeah I have so many questions.
My best working theory is that they brought in those new investors right before the shutdown. Those guys were swim fans and crypto guys. Maybe the rebound of crypto has restored their finances, and they wanted to pay these guys just because they don’t want to be pariahs from the swimming community?
Like I wrote in the story, I’ve heard second-hand that ISL doesn’t think that a return of ISL is out of the question…
I thought the ISL completely folded. Good to see they still sensed payments.
I would still give them a second chance to watch because I understand the war in Ukraine wasn’t their fault.
Can we stop with these dumb wars?
The war sort of exposed the underlying flaws within the league. It was a very expensive league, even for someone as wealthy as Mr. Grigorishin, and it was not anywhere near profitable.
Yeah it seems like the only reason the league stayed together was Grigorshin pumping money into it.
It’s a shame that some teams still haven’t gotten ANY solidarity payments. Wish SwimSwam would be a voice for the athletes who are still owed money!!!! #iron
Hi “Matt,” none of those swimmers have chosen to share with us. If they would like to, they’re welcome to reach out to [email protected].
He got paid. That’s better than the alternative.
I miss the ISL…
War sucks!
I agree, but the ISL seemed doomed to fail regardless of the war. Corrupt Ukrainian oligarchs promising money they weren’t actually good for has been a thing for a very long time.
Trying to stay relevant