The International Swimming League (ISL) has paid out $3,000 to some of its athletes last week, a solidarity payment coming almost five years after its most recent season. It’s unclear how many payments were made and some athletes say they still have money owed.
On Friday, the league sent messages to its athletes indicating that there is a pending update on the league’s status. SwimSwam has reached out to the ISL about the pending update but has still not received a reply.
The league struggled with payments even during its active seasons. Before season 3, reports surfaced that vendors had not been fully paid from the first two seasons. Athlete solidarity payments, acting as a base salary, were cut in half before season 3 going from $15,000 in season 2 to just $7,500 for season 3.
In December 2025, Shane Ryan told SwimSwam that the ISL still owed him $50,000 from the 2021 season. Ryan joined the Enhanced Games in October 2025. Cody Miller, who has also joined the Enhanced Games, said he received his solidarity payments for the 2021 season in December 2024. In late 2025, it was announced that World Record holder Sarah Sjostrom has still not received payments from the ISL, although the amount was not disclosed.
The ISL had three seasons with the 2019 season spanning seven meets in seven different cities. The 2020 and 2021 seasons took place solely in Budapest under COVID-19 restrictions. The league was set to have a 4th season beginning in June 2022 but notified athletes in March 2022 that season four would be canceled due to COVID-19 as well as the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The ISL’s founder and primary backer, Konstantin Grigorishin, is a Ukrainian oligarch.
The league went quiet for a few years before social media posts begin in December 2025 indicating some revival on the horizon. A few weeks later it was announced that the ISL planned a return alongside the College Swimming League (CSL) which will kick off its inaugural season this September.
They have to pay the prize money before they can come back!
This is why enhanced games are better #enchancedrules
Yeah, because I’m sure $3000 will wipe the slate clean with athletes who are owed much more than that.
The Enhanced Games spent more than that on champagne during the post-meet celebration.
given inflation they sorta owe $3,700 now
thanks, obama
It took 5 years to scrounge up $3000?
People quick to hate on enhanced games when they were upfront, open and followed through with their plans and how they would pay athletes while people love isl and they just lied and still have not paid athletes years later.
They’re both disreputable – for different reasons.
2020 was in a bubble in Budapest, but 2021 took place in Naples and then Eindhoven