FINA has announced the first 10 swimmers who will participate in the 2020 FINA Champions Series in China later this month.
Participating Swimmers:
- Alia Atkinson, Jamaica
- Marcelo Chierighini, Brazil
- Anna Egorova, Russia
- Dmitriy Balandin, Kazakhstan
- Michelle Coleman, Sweden
- Michael Andrew, United States
- Fu Yuanhui, China
- Nicholas Santos, Brazil
- Katinka Hosszu, Hungary
- Matt Grevers, United States
The highlight name is Katinka Hosszu, who has had more success in these high-prize series-style meets than anyone in swimming history. Last year, where the series was 3 meets (as compared to just 2 this year), she ranked 2nd among all athletes with $124,500 in earnings.
- See full 2020 series details here.
- Meet 1: January 14th-15th, Shenzen, China
- Meet 2: January 18th-19th, Beijing, China
Also committed for 2020 is last year’s top male earner Michael Andrew, another swimmer who excels in this format given his versatility across events.
Last year’s top earner, Sarah Sjostrom, is still not confirmed to compete this year.
A few of the noteworthy potential matchups that are shaping up already includes Michael Andrew vs. Brazilian veteran Nicholas Santos in the 50 fly, Michael Andrew vs. Olympic gold medalist Dmitriy Balanding in the 100 breaststroke, and Fu Yuanhui vs. Michelle Coleman vs. Katinka Hosszu in the women’s 50 backstroke.
The prize money will be the same as the 2019 series:
- 1st place – $10,000
- 2nd place – $8,000
- 3rd place – $6,000
- 4th place – $5,000
- World Record Bonus – $20,000
This means that at each meet, there will be at least $812,000 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
We proudly announce our first line-up of elite swimmmers to take part in the FINA Champions Swim Series on January 14-19. 🏊♀️🏊♂️#CSS2020 #swimming pic.twitter.com/QgMAWZfVGQ
— FINA (@fina1908) January 5, 2020
What about the 400m IM?
Michael Andrew and Hosszu go to an opening of an envelope. These two wear me out.
You’re mad because 2 star swimmers race…too much?
The NBA wishes they had your kind of problems right now…did someone say “load management”?
For real if someone paid me to swim or do jumping jacks or drink orange juice on a unicycle, really well and enough to not worry about degrees or a real job, I’d juggle caterpillars every weekend for money.
You’re talking about their legacy, in which case Katinka is a top 5 all time female talent, and MA is a young gun who has yet to peak at the times it’s most convenient for team USA (Pan PACs notwithstanding/least interesting year of cycle). If all MA does is chase money for the next ten years, GREAT, he’s found a way to profit from his talents. If he becomes a Simone type swimmer, only peaking at certain meets, I know… Read more »
Can you imagine Ledecky, Campbell sisters, Sjostrom, Manuel, … swimming 200BR in competition where other three swimmers are getting cold waiting in the water when these stars finish finally their race? It will never happen. It won’t happen even if they got paid $10,000 for such humiliation.
As a fan I don’t mind if professional swimmers compete seriously each weekend and got paid for that. But there are still some things like decency and self respect that this “Lady” is not obviously aware of. It will be very petty if MA follows footsteps of Mrs. Hosszu sucking the money from wherever possible not caring what it makes him look like.
What it makes them look like? Like professionals making money off of their talent, like a rock band on tour? You can’t say they owe other swimmers spots at these meets, those spots are earned by being fast enough to enter. Jimmy Buffett is never going to be bigger than the Beatles, but he never stops touring because A. He enjoys it, B. Fan/organizations like him enough to pay him, And C. He ENJOYS IT!
MA and Katinka like traveling and racing. that’s a personal life choice that shows, well, that they like TRAVELING and RACING.
I guess every Fútbol player that preforms better for club than country is also “sucking the money from wherever possible”
What I don’t understand is why they participate in this when they have such a significant equity interest in the ISL. Their teams could be worth a significant sum of money if the ISL was able to succeed and make money yet they go and swim for their most direct competitor. Also competing makes their own lawsuit against FINA that much harder to win. It appears to me they could claim more loss of earnings if they didn’t go and just tell the judge that the meets in Asia were not viable options for them.
No Aussies?
Or Asians?? It’s going to be in China…
Fu
Kazakhstan is in Asia.
12 Chinese swimmers will participate, HK swimmer Siobhán Haughey was invited.
They have only announced 10 people, there will be more
If finas accepting applications I’ll go for 2k lol
I’m pretty sure Atkinson, Andrew, Chierighini, Egorova all satisfy criteria 11 WC finalists.
That’s what the article says.
It was edited.
I thought it was entertaining last year. Haters gonna hate
It was. But I think FINA has to learn some useful lessons from ISL and put restriction on the level of performance for the swimmer who finishes fourth. So there would be no place for this ugly greed of swimming three events per session almost drowning at the last one for guaranteed $5000.
To be fair, It’s more like FINA has some trouble finding a fourth swimmer to fill the space, not that some swimmers strongly ask to earn that 5000 by almost drowning. FINA has to change the invitation only format.
Unfair for other athletes that have qualified based on merit if Michael Andrew is being included because of suing FINA. It’d be interesting to know when the entry list comes out if the other athletes that should qualify before him were actually offered their spots.
I don’t think it’s them not offering spots. It’s swimmers not taking their offers. They’ve laid out the list and it seems that it runs on an algorithm for invites. Andrew got invited for being a silver medalist on the prelims relay which would fall under the third criteria. But the entire list as a whole is embarrassing if that’s the first round of swimmers that’ll accept invites.
Means the Peaty’s, Dressels, Ledeckys, and Sjostroms of the world are refusing invites.
The criteria is applied race by race (he must qualify in each the specific individual event) so the prelims relay has no effect. The only way he can qualify is via criteria XI or lower which means everyone else matching the prior criteria needs to have said no. That’s a few more swimmers than just the superstars.
Oops. Didn’t know that. Even worse.
It’s not embarrassing during grind time in an Olympic year. If the ISL had launched in January with its championship in the Spring, no one would have signed up for it either.
I’m pretty sure MA is a world championship Finalist which is included in the selection process and also top 8 in 4 different 50s last worlds. I’m assuming CD didn’t accept which would mean off the 50 fly alone, MA would be invited
Calm your outrage, you’re probably still mad about that pro deal at 14 still
Coleman 🤩