A group of professional swimmers led by named plaintiffs Tom Shields and Katinka Hosszu have reached a settlement in their long-running legal dispute with World Aquatics.
According to Front Office Sports, the swimmers had a mediation session in June and are working towards finalizing an agreement, with a joint case management statement having been filed on July 23 in the Northern District of California.
Jeffrey Kessler, the lead plaintiffs’ attorney in the landmark NCAA v. House lawsuit, is representing the swimmers.
“We are very pleased to have achieved a very favorable settlement for the class of swimmers,” he said in a statement, according to Front Office Sports.
Kessler said the settlement “will provide both past damages and future injunctive relief to prevent World Aquatics from having rules to interfere with the ability of the swimmers or national federations to participate in swimming events not sanctioned by World Aquatics… World Aquatics has new leadership and they did the right thing in agreeing to a new path that will benefit swimmers, the national federations and the many fans of the sport.“
A separate lawsuit between the International Swimming League (ISL) and World Aquatics will move forward, wih a jury trial scheduled to run for eight days from January 12-22, 2026.
Both antitrust cases were initially filed in 2018, with the athletes accusing World Aquatics (then FINA) of restricting them from competing in outside competitions and the ISL alleging that by threatening sanctions to the swimmers, World Aquatics hurt its ability to attract top swimmers and thrive as competition in the market.
The suit alleges that the 2018 Energy for Swim meet in Turin, Italy, was canceled due to the restrictions put in place by World Aquatics. The swimmers claim they were denied at least $3.3 million in appearance fees and prize money for both the 2018 Energy for Swim competition and subsequent events the ISL could have held if World Aquatics hadn’t gotten in the way.
The ISL ran for three seasons, beginning with a seven-meet schedule in 2019 before hosting expanded 13- and 18-event schedules in 2020 and 2021. In 2022, the league canceled its fourth season following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and never resumed operations.
In the long-running lawsuit led by Shields and Hosszu, a lower court ruled in favor of World Aquatics in January 2023, but the ISL and Shields, Hosszu, and co. filed a joint appeal that June to reverse the ruling.
In September 2024, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said in a 3-0 ruling that the groups provided sufficient allegations to let their antitrust cases move forward against World Aquatics.
In December, the ISL sued the law firm Farella Braun + Martel in San Francisco Superior Court, accusing the firm of professional negligence, breach of fiduciary duty, breach of implied contract, and unfair business practices in its antitrust case against World Aquatics.
So happy for Tom and Katinka!
Word is the settlement is enough for them to go to a movie and still have a little left over for popcorn (small).