2023 World Aquatics Championships
- July 14-30, 2023
- Fukuoka, Japan
- Pool Swimming: July 23-30
- LCM (50 meters)
- Meet Info
- Meet Central
The 2023 World Aquatics Championships will award a minimum of $5.67 million (USD) in prize money this summer, with a $30,000 world record bonus in place to potentially up that total.
The prize money system and totals per event will be exactly the same as it was at last year’s championships in Budapest, with the only caveat being that the world record bonus drops from $50,000 to $30,000.
There are also differences in the number of events being contested, which drops the prize money total down from $5,720,000 to $5,670,300.
- High diving returns after it was dropped from the schedule last year (+$127,800)
- There are two fewer open water events, with the men’s and women’s 25km having been dropped (-$120,000)
- There are two more solo/duet artistic swimming events (+$120,000)
- There is one fewer synchro team event (-$177,500)
At the 2022 championships in Budapest, Hungarian Kristof Milak led all earners in pool swimming with $92,500, picking up the $50,000 world record bonus in the men’s 200 fly in addition to winning a pair of gold medals in the 100 and 200 fly.
The other individual world record-setter of the competition, Italian Thomas Ceccon, ranked second with just over $87,500, while Katie Ledecky led all women with $63,333.33. Also cracking the 50K marker was Leon Marchand ($56,850), Sarah Sjostrom ($56,500), Summer McIntosh (56,428.57) and Mollie O’Callaghan ($52,583.33).
Prize money in relay events is the same as it is individually, but the totals are per relay team rather than per athlete (this is why some athletes have their totals broken into cents).
PRIZE MONEY SUMMARY, PER DISCIPLINE
| NO. OF EVENTS | PRIZE $ PER |
TOTAL PRIZE $
|
|
| Swimming | 42 | $65,000 | $2,730,000 |
| Open Water Swimming | 5 | $60,000 | $300,000 |
| Diving | 13 | $60,000 | $780,000 |
| Solo/Duet Synchro | 8 | $60,000 | $480,000 |
| Team Synchro | 3 | $177,500 | $532,500 |
| Water Polo | 2 | $360,000 | $720,000 |
| Total | $5,670,300 | ||
| World Record Bonus (Swimming Only) | $30,000 | ||
PRIZE MONEY DISTRIBUTION PER EVENT
| SWIMMING | SWIMMING | OW SWIMMING | DIVING | SYNCHRO (SOLO & DUET + MIXED DUET) | SYNCHRO (TEAM & FREE) |
WATER POLO
|
| 1st | $20,000 | $20,000 | $20,000 | $20,000 | $50,000 | $80,000 |
| 2nd | $15,000 | $15,000 | $15,000 | $15,000 | $40,000 | $70,000 |
| 3rd | $10,000 | $10,000 | $10,000 | $10,000 | $30,000 | $60,000 |
| 4th | $6,000 | $5,000 | $5,000 | $5,000 | $20,000 | $50,000 |
| 5th | $5,000 | $4,000 | $4,000 | $4,000 | $15,000 | $40,000 |
| 6th | $4,000 | $3,000 | $3,000 | $3,000 | $10,000 | $30,000 |
| 7th | $3,000 | $2,000 | $2,000 | $2,000 | $7,500 | $20,000 |
| 8th | $2,000 | $1,000 | $1,000 | $1,000 | $5,000 | $10,000 |
The 2023 World Aquatics Championships will run July 14-30 in Fukuoka, Japan, with pool swimming set to take place during the second week of action, July 23-30, from the Marine Messe Fukuoka, the same site as the 2001 World Championships.
I know swimming is not Track and Field but their bonus for a WR at the WC is $100,000 (or was in 2022) and swimming went from $50,000 to $30,000
Based on the relative likelihood of track WRs vs swimming, I’d actually think the expected value of the WR $pool to be higher
There were 13 world records at Short Course Worlds last year at $50k a pop (plus 3 at Long Course Worlds). At the World Athletics Championships there were 2.
Might be why they decreased the prize money.
Short course worlds records aren’t close to as competitive as LC ones, particularly for relays. They should have lower World record bonuses for that format, but keep them higher for LC
Does World Aquatics provide transparency on the percentage of revenue they generate that goes towards athlete compensation?
They do, in a sense. They provide a line item on their annual financial report for athlete support – prize money and athlete support – other.
https://resources.fina.org/fina/document/2022/06/17/e4e0220e-aa4c-4f7c-9207-7b35a57bdad0/FINA-Financial-Report-2021_OK-FINAL-PWC-signed.pdf
Page 15
In 2021, it was 5.9 million Swiss Francs (6.5 million based on a current US Dollars conversion). That’s out of revenue of 20.5 million Swiss Francs, which is about 29%. If we consider that the “salary” paid by FINA to the athletes, that’s a lower percentage than most major sports leagues, like the NBA or MLB.
But where it becomes tricky is the indirect support. Many athletes receive money from their national federations, and those national federations receive support from FINA/AQUA.
Delegates hotel, travel &… Read more »
ez 60k for Marchand
I feel like there’s always an article about how 5 billion dollars of prize money is available and then after the championships it’s like “ *swimmer name* led all earners with $2”
I mean, 5 bil is a lot different than 5 mil. The math makes sense if you add it up between the sports. 5 million dollars for a multi sport International event isn’t a lot of money. Glad they get something though.
Yeah, for context, the Australian Open Prize Pool was $76m this year. And that’s one of four Grand Slams held each year, and it typically offers the lowest prize money of the four.
It is purely an economic issue for the sport and these professional athletes. Comparing it to other sports on a one-to-one basis isn’t meaningful. Both prize pools are dependent on the marketing opportunities, merchandising, advertising/media revenue, promotions, ticket sales, etc. funds they drive. You then can look at the percentage that goes to athletes (which has been described very well above), and look for explanations for any differences in similar economic level sports. Tennis is much more popular than swimming, especially as a viewer sport win the US. However, swimming is growing.
AKSUALLY according to my uhmmm calcultionssth
I know this is probably a silly question but the ncaa can’t deny the money of the college athletes can they? Like they do with sponsors.
For LC worlds, no. But what happens is that the federation will first accept the prize money, then pass it down to the athlete. Other events, yes, there is technically a limit for how much an athlete can take home (can only accept up to the expense value for the trip), but there are many loopholes around this.
Yes they can’t take any money
Add another 0 to those wins to be commensurate with the blood, sweat, and tears these athletes spill to get there. Yes, I know it isn’t practical.
You could say the same for most low-income jobs, but that’s not how pay is decided