Danas Rapsys, Xu Jiayu among Latest FINA Champions Series Invitees

For the 3rd straight day, FINA has announced 10 more names that will participate in the upcoming FINA Champions Series in China, where almost $2.5 million in prize money will be on the line across 4 days of competition.

Latest 10 Commitments:

• Danas Rapsys, Lithuania
• Pieter Timmers, Belgium
• Daiya Seto, Japan
• Ilya Shymanovich, Belarus
• Ajna Kesely, Hungary
• Wang Jianjiahe, China
• Jeremy Desplanches, Switzerland
• Xu Jiayu, China
• Joao Gomes Junior, Brazil
• Yang Junxuan, China

Included in the newest group is Danas Rapsys, who touched 1st in the 200 free at last year’s World Championships before being disqualified for a false start. Rapsys swam at last year’s Champions Series as well, where he drew criticism from both fans and his peers after swimming a 2:14 in the 200 backstroke (for which he still collected a $5,000 check).

Another big name in the latest round is Japan’s Daiya Seto, who is the world’s best IMer at the present moment. Seto will see, among his competitors, another new addition to the list: Jeremy Desplanches of Switzerland, the defending European Champion and Worlds silver medalist in the 200 IM.

• See full 2020 series details here.
• Meet 1: January 14th-15th, Shenzen, China
• Meet 2: January 18th-19th, Beijing, China

Also joining the fray is Xu Jiayu of China, who is the two-time defending World Champion in the 100 backstroke in long course. Xu joins a deep group of backstrokers scheduled to attend the meet that includes Matt Grevers, World Record holder Ryan Murphy, Ryosuke Irie, and Jacob Pebley. So far, that stroke group stands out above all others in terms of depth of talent.

31 Known Committed Swimmers So Far:

Since FINA’s initial announcement, they’ve increased prize money:

• 1st place – $16,000
• 2nd place – $12,000
• 3rd place – $8,000
• 4th place – $6,000
• World Record Bonus – $20,000

Each of the 4 swimmers in every race will receive prize money regardless of their finishing time.

This means that at each meet, there will be at least $1,176,000 in prize money for individual events, plus the addition of possible relays. That’s as compared to $179,400 available per regular season meet in the International Swimming League’s inaugural season (based on individual, not team earnings), which rose to $598,000 for the Las Vegas finale.

Athletes will each also receive an engagement fee for racing.

While we don’t know yet what events that swimmers have been chosen for, Atkinson doesn’t satisfy any of the first 10 selection criteria, implying that FINA has reached into criteria 11, World Championship finalists, to select her. The same is true of Matt Grevers, Michael Andrew, Anna Egorova, and Marcelo Chierighini.

The list includes 2 of the 3 named swimmers, Hosszu and Andrew, who are currently suing FINA.

Athlete Selection Criteria

Event Schedule