How Much Money Is Up for Grabs at 2020 FINA Champions Series?

Note: in earlier articles during our coverage of the Champions Series meet, we incorrectly applied the relay prize money to all events. The prize money for the 2020 series will mirror the 2019 series. The information below reflects the correct prize money.

Almost $2 million in prize money is up for grabs over the next 2 weeks in China as 70+ of the world’s top swimmers head to Shenzen and Beijing to dash for cash.

The prize money for this year’s meet will remain the same as the 2019 series, with $29,000 available in each of 28 individual events (for $812,000 total), plus an additional $32,000-per-meet available to relay swimmers. That adds up to $844,000-per-meet, plus a $20,000 bonus for all World Records set (though World Records seem unlikely).

2020 FINA Champions Series Prize Money – Individual Events (x28):

  • 1st place – $10,000
  • 2nd place – $8,000
  • 3rd place – $6,000
  • 4th place – $5,000
  • World Record Bonus – $20,000

2020 FINA Champions Series Prize Money – Relays (x2):

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

The prize money above is in addition to engagement fees that FINA is paying to athletes in exchange for their participation in supporting events like press conferences.

Each race will have 4 swimmers, and all 4 swimmers will score points. There are no “series” bonuses, and no minimum time standards that have to be met in order to earn money.

Last season, Sarah Sjostrom led all athletes with $104,000 in earnings, though she’s not participating in this year’s series. Katinka Hosszu was 2nd with $87,000, and Michael Andrew was 3rd with $60,000 earned. The 4th-best earner, Chad le Clos, also is not participating this year.

Last season, with 3 meets, the United States won the most prize money as a group – almost doubling Russia. This year, with the hosts China bringing the most athletes to the meet, they should lead that category.

2019 Series Prize Money Table – Overall (3 meets)

NAME COUNTRY
TOTAL MONEY (AFTER INDY DAY 2)
Sarah Sjostrom Sweden $148,000
Katinka Hosszu Hungary $123,000
Michael Andrew USA $103,500
Danas Rapsys Lithuania $61,000
Vlad Morozov Russia $60,500
Yulia Efimova Russia $59,500
Ranomi Kromowidjojo Netherlands $57,000
Kelsi Dahlia USA $53,000
Anton Chupkov Russia $52,000
Molly Hannis USA $52,000
Pernille Blume Denmark $51,000
Chad le Clos South Africa $48,000
Matt Grevers USA $43,000
Anastasia Fesikova Russia $42,000
Penny Oleksiak Canada $42,000
Farida Osman Egypt $39,000
Kliment Kolesnikov Russia $39,000
Nicholas Santos Brazil $39,000
Pieter Timmers Belgium $39,000
Ben Proud Great Britain $38,000
Emily Seebohm Australia $37,000
Jacob Pebley USA $35,000
Lilly King USA $34,500
Li Bingjie China $34,000
Georgia Davies Great Britain $31,000
Kylie Masse Canada $31,000
Robert Glinta Romania $31,000
Xu Jiayu China $31,000
Fabio Scozzoli Italy $30,000
Ryan Murphy USA $29,000
Chase Kalisz USA $28,000
Margherita Panziera Italy $28,000
Andrii Govorov Ukraine $27,000
Cate Campbell Australia $26,000
Imogen Clark Great Britain $26,000
Ye Shiwen China $25,000
Gabriele Detti Italy $24,000
Etiene Medeiros Brazil $23,000
Hali Flickinger USA $23,000
Katie Meili USA $23,000
Leah Smith USA $23,000
Arno Kamminga Netherlands $22,000
Joao Gomes Junior Brazil $22,000
Townley Haas USA $22,000
Wang Jianjiahe China $21,000
Wang Shun China $21,000
Evgeny Rylov Russia $20,000
Fu Yuanhui China $20,000
Sun Yang China $20,000
Bruno Fratus Brazil $19,000
Melanie Margalis USA $19,000
Felipe Lima Brazil $18,000
Kristof Milak Hungary $18,000
Masato Sakai Japan $18,000
Josh Prenot USA $16,500
Laszlo Cseh Hungary $16,000
Qin Haiyang China $16,000
Ryosuke Irie Japan $16,000
Andrei Minakov Russia $15,000
Anthony Ervin USA $15,000
Dmitriy Balandin Kazakhstan $15,000
Piero Codia Italy $15,000
Siobhan O’Connor Great Britain $15,000
Aleksandr Krasnykh Russia $14,000
Federica Pellegrini Italy $14,000
Ippei Watanabe Japan $14,000
Jeremy Desplanches Switzerland $14,000
Justin Ress USA $14,000
Li Zhuhao China $14,000
Yu Jingyao China $14,000
Jack Conger USA $13,000
Mykhailo Romanchuk Ukraine $13,000
Ajna Kesely Hungary $12,000
Cody Miller USA $12,000
Dana Vollmer USA $12,000
Zach Harting USA $11,500
Holly Hibbott Great Britain $11,000
Micah Sumrall USA $11,000
Zhang Yuhan China $11,000
Bethany Galat USA $10,000
Kevin Cordes USA $10,000
Mehdy Metella France $10,000
Yufei Zhang China $10,000
Philip Heintz Germany $9,000
Eszter Bekesi Hungary $8,000
Franziska Hentke Germany $8,000
Justin Wright USA $8,000
Kim Seoyeong Korea $8,000
Liu Xiang China $8,000
Peng Xuwei China $8,000
Seoyeong Kim South Korea $8,000
Boglarka Kapas Hungary $6,000
Dominik Kosma Hungary $6,000
Feng Junyang China $6,000
He Yun China $6,000
Jack McLoughlin Australia $6,000
Li Guanguan China $6,000
Liu Yaxin China $6,000
Ross Murdoch Great Britain $6,000
Veronika Andrusenko Russia $6,000
Wang Yizhe China $6,000
Zhou Min China $6,000
Alys Margaret Thomas Great Britain $5,000
Katalin Burian Hungary $5,000
Oleg Kostin Russia $5,000
Peter Bernek Hungary $5,000
Wang Zhou China $5,000
Zhang Sishi China $5,000
Zsuzsanna Jakabos Hungary $5,000
He Junyi China $4,000
Sydney Pickrem Canada $2,000

 

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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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