Katinka Hosszu Leads All Swimmers with $54k in SC Worlds Prize Money

About a month prior to the start of the 2018 Short Course World Championships, FINA almost doubled the amount of prize money available to athletes at the meet. Hungarian swimmer Katinka Hosszu, who filed a lawsuit against FINA a few days before the meet’s start, was the biggest benefactor of that change – coming home with $54,000 in prize money from the meet. That’s an increase of $13,500 as compared to what she would have made under the old reward system – which is a bigger increase (in individual earnings) than any other swimmer in the field resulting from the increase in prize earnings.

In total $1,532,000 were given out in placement money. That’s in addition to a further $135,000 awarded for 9 World Records.

The United States, responsible for 5 of those 9 World Records, took home $478,500 as a team (including relays), while Russia finisshed 2nd on the money list with  $249,500.

World Records broken at the 2018 Short Course World Championships:

  • Kirill Prigoda, Russia, Men’s 200 breast – 2:00.16
  • Daiya Seto, Japan, Men’s 200 fly – 1:48.24
  • USA, Men’s 200 free relay – 1:21.80
  • USA, Men’s 400 free relay – 3:03.03
  • Brazil, Men’s 800 free relay – 6:46.81
  • Ariarne Titmus, Australia, Women’s 400 free relay – 3:53.92
  • USA, Women’s 200 medley relay – 1:42.38
  • USA, Mixed 200 free relay – 1:27.89
  • USA, Mixed 200 medley relay – 1:36.40

Prize Money by Nation:

(This list includes relays)

Country 2018 Earnings
United States $478,500
Russian Federation $249,500
Japan $188,000
Australia $181,000
China $180,000
Italy $140,000
Brazil $129,000
Netherlands $103,000
South Africa $69,000
Hungary $68,000
Germany $66,000
France $54,000
Lithuania $40,000
Jamaica $27,000
Belarus $26,000
Finland $20,000
Poland $19,500
Czech Republic $19,000
Norway $15,000
Sweden $14,000
Belgium $13,000
Trinidad & Tobago $10,000
Ukraine $10,000
Austria $10,000
Canada $10,000
Ireland $10,000
Spain $10,000
Great Britain $9,500
Turkey $7,000
Hong Kong, China $7,000
Portugal $6,000
Ecuador $4,000
Bulgaria $2,000
Romania $2,000
New Zealand $2,000

Individual Earnings, 2018 World Short Course Swimming Championships

Notes:

  • Asterisk implies World Record boost of $15,000 (same under both systems)
  • This is potential earnings. Some athletes may decline their prize money for reasons of amateurism. Here’s what happens to Americans’ prize money when they forfeit it.
  • We excluded relay earnings, because it would take a lot of guessing to figure out how countries distribute prize money, especially in cases where the lineups are switched between prelims and finals. Olivia Smoliga, for example, was on 6 gold medal relays ($60,000), with three of those breaking World Records (an additional $45,000). Her distribution of that money is probably north of $10,000, but we don’t know for sure how much she’s entitled to.
  • In total, 179 athletes from 35 countries won individual prize money. That’s out of 930 athletes entered in the meet.
  • Russia’ Kiril Prigoda, with $36,000 earned (including a World Record bonus) was the top-earning male swimmer at the meet.
  • Of the 10 highest-earning athletes, 5 were male and 5 were female.
Name Country Individual Earnings at SC Worlds Earnings under Old System Improvement in new system
Hosszu, Katinka Hungary $54,000 $40,500 $13,500
Prigoda, Kirill* Russian Federation $36,000 $27,500 $8,500
Titmus, Ariarne* Australia $35,000 $31,000 $4,000
Seto, Daiya* Japan $35,000 $31,000 $4,000
Le Clos, Chad South Africa $33,000 $24,000 $9,000
Kromowidjojo, Ranomi Netherlands $30,000 $24,000 $6,000
Atkinson, Alia Jamaica $27,000 $20,000 $7,000
Murphy, Ryan United States $26,000 $20,000 $6,000
Dressel, Caeleb United States $26,000 $20,000 $6,000
Baker, Kathleen United States $25,000 $14,000 $11,000
Dahlia, Kelsi United States $25,000 $18,000 $7,000
Heemskerk, Femke Netherlands $23,000 $16,000 $7,000
Wang, Jianjiahe China $23,000 $16,000 $7,000
Kolesnikov, Kliment Russian Federation $23,000 $14,500 $8,500
Margalis, Melanie United States $22,000 $14,500 $7,500
Comerford, Mallory United States $21,000 $12,500 $8,500
Van Der Burgh, Cameron South Africa $20,000 $16,000 $4,000
Smoliga, Olivia United States $20,000 $16,000 $4,000
Barratt, Holly Australia $20,000 $12,000 $8,000
Rylov, Evgeny Russian Federation $20,000 $16,000 $4,000
Seebohm, Emily Australia $19,000 $8,500 $10,500
Larkin, Mitchell Australia $18,500 $8,250 $10,250
Rapsys, Danas Lithuania $18,000 $14,000 $4,000
Morozov, Vladimir Russian Federation $18,000 $14,000 $4,000
Shymanovich, Ilya Belarus $16,000 $12,000 $4,000
Christiansen, Henrik Norway $15,000 $10,000 $5,000
Li, Zhuhao China $14,000 $8,000 $6,000
Laukkanen, Jenna Finland $14,000 $5,500 $8,500
Fujimori, Hiromasa Japan $14,000 $8,000 $6,000
Smith, Leah United States $13,000 $6,500 $6,500
Meili, Katie United States $13,000 $8,000 $5,000
Carraro, Martina Italy $13,000 $6,500 $6,500
Lecluyse, Fanny Belgium $13,000 $6,000 $7,000
Koseki, Yasuhiro Japan $13,000 $6,500 $6,500
Wang, Shun China $13,000 $9,000 $4,000
Prenot, Josh United States $13,000 $8,000 $5,000
Li, Bingjie China $13,000 $6,500 $6,500
Pieroni, Blake United States $12,500 $8,750 $3,750
Xu, Jiayu China $12,000 $7,500 $4,500
Hansen, Jessica Australia $11,000 $5,500 $5,500
Grangeon, Lara France $11,000 $4,500 $6,500
Cusinato, Ilaria Italy $11,000 $4,500 $6,500
Kusch, Marius Germany $11,000 $4,500 $6,500
Bianchi, Ilaria Italy $11,000 $4,500 $6,500
Bilis, Simonas Lithuania $11,000 $4,500 $6,500
Malyutin, Martin Russian Federation $10,000 $4,000 $6,000
Coleman, Michelle Sweden $10,000 $4,000 $6,000
Guido, Guilherme Brazil $10,000 $4,000 $6,000
Carter, Dylan Trinidad & Tobago $10,000 $5,000 $5,000
Metella, Mehdy France $10,000 $4,000 $6,000
Henique, Melanie France $10,000 $4,000 $6,000
Ye, Shiwen China $10,000 $4,000 $6,000
Bratton, Lisa United States $10,000 $8,000 $2,000
Santos, Nicholas Brazil $10,000 $8,000 $2,000
Romanchuk, Mykhailo Ukraine $10,000 $8,000 $2,000
Lazor, Annie United States $10,000 $8,000 $2,000
Davies, Georgia Great Britain $9,500 $4,250 $5,250
Kawamoto, Takeshi Japan $9,000 $3,500 $5,500
Egorova, Anna Russian Federation $9,000 $3,500 $5,500
Meilutyte, Ruta Lithuania $8,000 $6,000 $2,000
Pilhatsch, Caroline Austria $8,000 $6,000 $2,000
Kohler, Sarah Germany $8,000 $3,000 $5,000
Quadarella, Simona Italy $8,000 $6,000 $2,000
Orsi, Marco Italy $8,000 $6,000 $2,000
Stewart, Kendyl United States $8,000 $6,000 $2,000
Imai, Runa Japan $8,000 $6,000 $2,000
Qin, Haiyang China $8,000 $6,000 $2,000
Fraser-holmes, Thomas Australia $8,000 $6,000 $2,000
Paltrinieri, Gregorio Italy $8,000 $6,000 $2,000
Galat, Bethany United States $8,000 $6,000 $2,000
Detti, Gabriele Italy $7,000 $4,000 $3,000
Lesaffre, Fantine France $7,000 $4,000 $3,000
Lima, Felipe Brazil $7,000 $4,000 $3,000
Koch, Marco Germany $7,000 $4,000 $3,000
Medeiros, Etiene Brazil $7,000 $4,000 $3,000
Pumputis, Caio Brazil $7,000 $2,500 $4,500
Graham, Alexander Australia $7,000 $4,000 $3,000
Hasegawa, Suzuka Japan $7,000 $4,000 $3,000
Tandy, Bradley South Africa $7,000 $4,000 $3,000
Black, Haley Canada $7,000 $2,500 $4,500
Dias, Daiene Brazil $7,000 $4,000 $3,000
Ryan, Shane Ireland $7,000 $4,000 $3,000
Almeida, Brandonn Brazil $7,000 $4,000 $3,000
Kawecki, Radoslaw Poland $6,500 $3,250 $3,250
Atherton, Minna Australia $6,500 $3,250 $3,250
Vekovishchev, Mikhail Russian Federation $6,500 $2,250 $4,250
Grothe, Zane United States $6,000 $2,000 $4,000
Ji, Xinjie China $6,000 $2,500 $3,500
Aubry, David France $6,000 $2,500 $3,500
Bernek, Peter Hungary $6,000 $2,500 $3,500
Pellegrini, Federica Italy $6,000 $2,500 $3,500
Seemanova, Barbora Czech Republic $6,000 $2,000 $4,000
Melo, Luiz Altamir Brazil $6,000 $2,000 $4,000
Kharlanov, Aleksandr Russian Federation $6,000 $2,500 $3,500
Shimizu, Sakiko Japan $6,000 $2,000 $4,000
Scozzoli, Fabio Italy $6,000 $2,500 $3,500
Kamminga, Arno Netherlands $6,000 $2,000 $4,000
Andrew, Michael United States $6,000 $2,500 $3,500
Fu, Yuanhui China $6,000 $2,500 $3,500
Wang, Yichun China $6,000 $2,000 $4,000
Yu, Jingyao China $6,000 $2,500 $3,500
Grinev, Vladislav Russian Federation $6,000 $2,500 $3,500
Krasnykh, Aleksandr Russian Federation $5,000 $2,000 $3,000
Harting, Zach United States $5,000 $2,000 $3,000
Vall, Jessica Spain $5,000 $2,000 $3,000
Diener, Christian Germany $5,000 $1,500 $3,500
Sakci, Huseyin Emre Turkey $5,000 $2,000 $3,000
Panziera, Margherita Italy $5,000 $2,000 $3,000
Cini, Mathilde France $5,000 $2,000 $3,000
Correia, Breno Brazil $5,000 $2,000 $3,000
Zhu, Menghui China $5,000 $2,000 $3,000
Fesikov, Sergei Russian Federation $5,000 $2,000 $3,000
De Waard, Maaike Netherlands $5,000 $2,000 $3,000
Di Liddo, Elena Italy $5,000 $2,000 $3,000
Juraszek, Pawel Poland $5,000 $2,000 $3,000
Gyurta, Gergely Hungary $5,000 $2,000 $3,000
Joly, Damien France $5,000 $2,000 $3,000
Pebley, Jacob United States $5,000 $2,000 $3,000
Micka, Jan Czech Republic $4,000 $1,500 $2,500
Grevers, Matt United States $4,000 $1,500 $2,500
Sabbioni, Simone Italy $4,000 $1,500 $2,500
Wang, Lizhuo China $4,000 $1,500 $2,500
Gomes Junior, Joao Brazil $4,000 $1,500 $2,500
Moronuki, Emi Japan $4,000 $1,000 $3,000
Ustinova, Daria K Russian Federation $4,000 $1,500 $2,500
Coelho Santos, Leonardo Brazil $4,000 $1,500 $2,500
Peribonio Avila, Tomas Ecuador $4,000 $1,500 $2,500
To, Kenneth Hong Kong, China $4,000 $1,500 $2,500
Monteiro, Ana Portugal $4,000 $1,500 $2,500
Mcevoy, Cameron Australia $4,000 $1,500 $2,500
Dorinov, Mikhail Russian Federation $4,000 $1,500 $2,500
Takemura, Miyuki Japan $4,000 $1,500 $2,500
Salamatina, Valeriia Russian Federation $4,000 $1,500 $2,500
Shi, Jinglin China $4,000 $1,500 $2,500
Yasue, Takaya Japan $3,500 $1,250 $2,250
Wojdak, Wojciech Poland $3,000 $1,000 $2,000
Andrusenko, Veronika Russian Federation $3,000 $1,000 $2,000
Brown, Nic Australia $3,000 $1,000 $2,000
Temnikova, Mariia Russian Federation $3,000 $1,000 $2,000
Irie, Ryosuke Japan $3,000 $1,000 $2,000
Corro, Catalina Spain $3,000 $1,000 $2,000
Harkin, Abbey Australia $3,000 $1,000 $2,000
Schwingenschlogl, Fabian Germany $3,000 $1,000 $2,000
Kubova, Simona Czech Republic $3,000 $1,000 $2,000
Akase, Sayaka Japan $3,000 $1,000 $2,000
Switkowski, Jan Poland $3,000 $1,000 $2,000
Neal, Lia United States $3,000 $1,000 $2,000
Kameneva, Mariia Russian Federation $3,000 $1,000 $2,000
Conger, Jack United States $3,000 $1,000 $2,000
Zhang, Yufei China $3,000 $1,000 $2,000
Anderson, Haley United States $3,000 $1,000 $2,000
Soma, Ai Japan $3,000 $1,000 $2,000
Cielo Filho, Cesar Brazil $3,000 $1,000 $2,000
Takeuchi, Tomoya Japan $3,000 $1,000 $2,000
Kalmar, Akos Hungary $3,000 $1,000 $2,000
Nakamura, Katsumi Japan $2,500 $750 $1,750
Scheffer, Fernando Brazil $2,000 $500 $1,500
Musso, Erica Italy $2,000 $500 $1,500
Ivanov, Antani Bulgaria $2,000 $500 $1,500
Hulkko, Ida Finland $2,000 $500 $1,500
Glinta, Robert Romania $2,000 $500 $1,500
Ashby, Bradlee New Zealand $2,000 $500 $1,500
Takahashi, Miho Japan $2,000 $500 $1,500
Wilson, Andrew United States $2,000 $500 $1,500
Persson, Erik Sweden $2,000 $500 $1,500
Kostin, Oleg Russian Federation $2,000 $500 $1,500
Tchorz, Alicja Poland $2,000 $500 $1,500
Gallagher, Erin South Africa $2,000 $500 $1,500
Codia, Piero Italy $2,000 $500 $1,500
Coetzee, Ryan South Africa $2,000 $500 $1,500
Kobayashi, Nao Japan $2,000 $500 $1,500
Goto, Mayuko Japan $2,000 $500 $1,500
Schmidtke, Aliena Germany $2,000 $500 $1,500
Omoto, Rika Japan $2,000 $500 $1,500
Watanabe, Kanako Japan $2,000 $500 $1,500
Garcia, Marina Spain $2,000 $500 $1,500
Vital, Joao Alexandre Portugal $2,000 $500 $1,500
Kennedy, Madison United States $2,000 $500 $1,500
Matsubara, Hayate Japan $2,000 $500 $1,500

In This Story

16
Leave a Reply

Subscribe
Notify of

16 Comments
newest
oldest most voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Billy
5 years ago

Absolutely insane… Lebron makes $500k PER GAME… Yes, NBA brings in more money but $50k for being one of the best at world championships is ridiculous. You get $300k for winning the Crossfit Games…

Go Hoosiers!
Reply to  Billy
5 years ago

How many spots does the Crossfit games payout? Do they also payout for individual event winners or just an overall champion?

Cayley
5 years ago

The most important question: how much did fina made out of this competition (how much did fina keep)?

Cayley
Reply to  Braden Keith
5 years ago

Thank you, Braden. Your response to my question is worth a solo post. No wonder the athletes are not happy. I’ve read that they had a meeting in London this week.

Let’s trust the athletes to get the best advisers – lest they fall in the hands of yet another red-tape-prone organisation.

Swimming is one of the most popular sports at the Olympics. It should be as popular at other events. And the athletes should be rewarded.

Yozhik
5 years ago

Hosszu’s earnings can be used as a litmus test for the loopholes presence in the prize system design. Does anybody really believe that this swimmer’s caliber is 3-5 times greater than ones of Morozov or Comerfod or Deesseel or Wang Jianjiahe or Van Der Burgh or Andrew or Smoliga or Ryan etc.
Ridiculous. Will FINA ever learn from its mistakes? They still allow her to be overpaid for the low quality performance.

Old Man Chalmers
Reply to  Yozhik
5 years ago

Hosszu is a multiple olympic gold medalist individually, has 2 WRs and has won many world championship golds as well. With the exception of Van de burgh, all of the swimmers you mentioned lack an olympic gold or only have got one from a relay. Van de burgh has one olympic gold and silver, hosszu has 3 gold 1 silver. So yes, Hosszu’s caliber is far greater than that of the swimmers you mentioned.

Sure, Dressel has potential, but Hosszu has got the job done consistently for the past six years.

Yozhik
Reply to  Old Man Chalmers
5 years ago

You missed my point. I’m not talking about glorious past. I’m talking about current meet. Until awards correspond the quality FINA will lose any business competition if it is any. And maybe it’s for good. If ISL is a real prestigious deal but not a circus show in Las Vegas then Hosszu’s earnings will be inline with her season ranking. How frequently unseeded players get to semi-finals in Grand Slam tournaments? The price matches quality of product on the developed market. Competitive swimming is so far from that.

Old Man Chalmers
Reply to  Yozhik
5 years ago

What is your point, then? If you don’t ever elaborate on your arguments, you may as well not comment at all.

Old Man Chalmers
Reply to  Yozhik
5 years ago

Hosszu got 4 individual golds at Hangzhou, which is better what than anyone else got at that meet. Adjusting rewards to the suit the world ranking may be a thing to consider, but hosszu is the least of your concerns in this respect. Hosszu is ranked number one in the world this season in all the events she won at SCM worlds. Your list indicated that Dressel should get more money than hosszu, even though he got fewer individual golds than hosszu in hangzhou has no number one ranking in any event this season

Yozhik
Reply to  Old Man Chalmers
5 years ago

The only race that I will give Hosszu a credit was her win over Dahlia. I like PGA system when the size of the purse depends on the strength of the field. In swimming if the field happens to be weak but the dominant swimmer wants a good earnings then use a handicap system. So there would be the risk vs reward. If your want to earn good money then work hard otherwise you can lose the competition.

gabor
Reply to  Yozhik
5 years ago

are numbers *that* hard for you to process? Person A got x number of gold medals, person B got y number of gold medals, and they got paid based on those metrics – and there is nothing more to it. If anyone thinks it’s easy to catch her in IM events, go prove that in the pool. So far she’s been meters ahead of the World, because – the beauty of the sport, she reaches the wall meters ahead of the field. And there is no one in the pool who wants her to win, they all want to win themselves.
Yet it is not impossible to beat her, she is only human, she loses ALL THE TIME. Sometimes… Read more »

torchbearer
Reply to  Old Man Chalmers
5 years ago

What about the Titmus litmus?

Jmanswimfan
Reply to  Yozhik
5 years ago

Uh yeah she is arguably the best swimmer in the meet.

Thomas
5 years ago

Smoliga brings home record amount of golds but not the most prize $$$. Huh

Dan
Reply to  Thomas
5 years ago

Most of her Gold’s were relay and the prize money listed here was for individual events.

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, …

Read More »