SwimSwam Pulse is a recurring feature tracking and analyzing the results of our periodic A3 Performance Polls. You can cast your vote in our newest poll on the SwimSwam homepage, about halfway down the page on the right side, or you can find the poll embedded at the bottom of this post.
Our most recent poll asked SwimSwam readers what FINA should do with its 2021 World Championships:
RESULTS
Question: What should be done with the 2021 World Championships amidst Olympic postponement?
- Move Worlds to 2022 – 60.9%
- Move Worlds to shortly after the Olympics in 2021 – 20.2%
- Cancel Worlds entirely – 18.9%
Well over half of voters suggested that the 2021 World Championships be delayed a year to accommodate the Tokyo Olympics, now pushed to 2021.
The 2020 Olympics were delayed almost exactly one year because of the coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic. The new Olympic dates create a conflict with FINA’s 2021 World Championships, which were scheduled for the summer of 2021.
FINA has suggested it will be flexible with its dates for the 2021 World Championships, but executive director Cornel Marculescu was quick to weigh in against delaying the meet a full year.
The poll reflects the general consensus of the comment section, which has been that the World Championships should be delayed a year to avoid forcing swimmers to double-taper for the Olympics and Worlds, or forcing federations to send a “B” team to Worlds with their top athletes at the Olympics.
But while there’s been almost glee among fans that the largely-unpopular governing body (FINA) may have to move its main event, one piece lost in discussion has been athlete earnings.
The Olympics hold the top prestige in the sport of swimming, but as the saying goes, prestige doesn’t pay the bills. For many athletes, World Championships are the money-maker. Caeleb Dressel made $110,000 at the 2019 World Championships in FINA prize money alone, not counting any Operation Gold bonuses he earned from USA Swimming. 21 athletes made at least $30,000 at 2019 Worlds.
That’s comparable to the $30,000+ earners over the entire International Swimming League (20 swimmers), which required athletes to compete at up to four meets over three months, and where prize money was much more heavily-based on team success than individual performances.
Would athletes be willing to swim an Olympics/Worlds double-taper in 2021 for the sake of earnings? At this point, it’s hard to say. But it’s an overlooked point that while a 2021 World Championships delay or cancellation hurts the largely-unpopular FINA, it also hurts the athletes who would have earned a good portion of their salaries through the World Championships.
For what it’s worth, more voters supported a 2021 Olympics/Worlds combo (20.2% suggested moving Worlds to shortly after the Olympics) than supported an outright cancellation of 2021 Worlds (18.9%), though those two options were awfully close.
Below, vote in our new A3 Performance Poll, which asks voters to pick the #1 recruit in the current class of high school juniors:
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ABOUT A3 PERFORMANCE
The A3 Performance Poll is courtesy of A3 Performance, a SwimSwam partner
Grimm has the speed but Hayes has the speed and the mid-d endurance which you need in the NCAA. Hayes could do more races (relays) in a day and a weekend.