FINA Confirms $2.1 Million Prize Money Pool For 2022 Short Course World Championships

2022 FINA Short Course World Championships

  • Tuesday, December 13 – Sunday, December 18, 2022
  • Melbourne, Australia
  • Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre
  • SCM (25 meters)
  • Meet Central

There will be more than $2.1 million (USD) up for grabs at next month’s Short Course World Championships in Melbourne, a decrease compared to the $2.8 million that was on the line last year in Abu Dhabi.

Prize money will be distributed to the top eight finishers in each event—both individual and relays—with the winner earning $10,000 and a total of $45,000 handed out in each race. Last year, each winner earned $15,000 and a total of $67,500 was distributed per event.

The breakdown will be the same as it was at the 2018 championships in Hangzhou, China. The total prize pool sees a slight increase, from $2.07 to $2.16 million, due to the addition of the women’s 1500 free and the men’s 800 free to the program.

2018 Breakdown 2021 Breakdown 2022 Breakdown
1st place $10,000 $15,000 $10,000
2nd place $8,000 $12,000 $8,000
3rd place $7,000 $10,500 $7,000
4th place $6,000 $9,000 $6,000
5th place $5,000 $7,500 $5,000
6th place $4,000 $6,000 $4,000
7th place $3,000 $4,500 $3,000
8th place $2,000 $3,000 $2,000
Total per event $45,000 $67,500 $45,000

Note: Prize money for relay events is the same as for individual events, but the prize money is per relay team not per athlete.

There will also be a $25,000 bonus awarded to swimmers who break a world record over the course of the meet.

At last year’s SC Worlds, when the world record prize was $50,000, four new world records were set.

At the 2022 Long Course World Championships in Budapest, a total of $2.73 million was awarded in the pool swimming competition, with each winner earning $20,000.

FINA recently gave out nearly $1.4 million ($1,396,000) at its World Cup series, $200,000 of which came in the form of bonuses from either the ‘triple crown’ or new world records.

When FINA made a significant increase to its prize money pool last year, a primary reason was believed to be the International Swimming League (ISL), which awarded over $6 million in prize money during its fourth season in 2021. This year’s ISL season was canceled due to the war in Ukraine.

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Chdy
1 year ago

WR should get a million.

Chdy
1 year ago

god that’s such BS. These are the finest athletes in the world.

Verram
1 year ago

Just goes to show the significance of competition to FINA events .. it raises the prize money for athletes etc

Hank
1 year ago

Where does all this money come from? It seems like a bubble.

Swimmerfromjapananduk
Reply to  Hank
1 year ago

Funding? It’s not really a hard concept to wrap your head around. And it’s not exactly a huge amount of money that is up for grabs either

Walter
Reply to  Swimmerfromjapananduk
1 year ago

Who is providing the funding?

Dressel GOAT
1 year ago

“…When FINA made a significant increase to its prize money pool last year, a primary reason was believed to be the International Swimming League…”

It’s because it was in the Middle East where countries like UAE 🇦🇪 and Qatar 🇶🇦 possess oil money and are able to offer a bigger prize money compared to other nations in pretty much every sport.

About James Sutherland

James Sutherland

James swam five years at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario, specializing in the 200 free, back and IM. He finished up his collegiate swimming career in 2018, graduating with a bachelor's degree in economics. In 2019 he completed his graduate degree in sports journalism. Prior to going to Laurentian, James swam …

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