The total purse for the 2018 FINA World Cup is expected to exceed $2.5 million USD, with the overall winner for both men and women receiving the largest single score at $150,000.
At each individual competition, prize money will be broken down as follows (per individual event):
- 1st – $1,500
- 2nd – $1,000
- 3rd – $500
- 4th – $400
- 5th – $300
- 6th – $200
For relays, only the top-3 teams will receive prize money (only the mixed 200 free and medley relays are contested):
- 1st – $3,000
- 2nd – $2,000
- 3rd – $1,000
Additionally, each world record swim will give a swimmer an extra $10,000.
Per cluster (there are three), the top-8 men and top-8 women will receive prize money based on the number of points they’ve accumulated. Points are collected from top-3 finishes, world record performances, and the top-3 swims of the meet (based on FINA points) also earn points.
Check out the full points breakdown below:
Medal Points
Each individual event yields points for the top 3 finishers.
- Gold: 12 points
- Silver: 9 points
- Bronze: 6 points
World Record Bonuses
Each world record yields 20 points. Tying a world record is worth 10 points.
Performance Bonuses
The top 3 male and top 3 female swims of the meet earn bonus points. Top swims are determined based on FINA points. Only the top-scoring swim from each athlete is counted.
- First: 24 points
- Second: 18 points
- Third: 12 points
The top-8 point-getters for each cluster will receive prize money as follows:
- 1st – $50,000
- 2nd – $35,000
- 3rd – $30,000
- 4th – $20,000
- 5th – $10,000
- 6th – $5,000
- 7th – $4,000
- 8th – $3,000
At the end of the series, the top-3 in overall points will receive prizes of $150k, $100k and $50k:
- 1st – $150,000
- 2nd – $100,000
- 3rd – $50,000
*All figures are USD
Last year, it was South African Chad Le Clos who won his fourth overall title on the men’s side, while Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom won on the women’s side.
A full breakdown of the money, points and the history of the World Cup can be found on FINA’s ‘Media Book’ here.
Where does FINA get all this cash? Certainly not ticket sales?! They seem very loose with their money.
Michael Andrew needs to swim in all World Cup stops. I believe he can win the overall prize.
He has said he is doing all stops so we will see!
Where do you get that from that he would win??!!? It’s not even gonna be close.
In other words, about as much money as Lebron James makes for one basketball game. If there was any justice in this world the government would take some money from other sports to give these athletes more money. The money they deserve.
Um…no. Lebron James makes that much money because Lebron James draws that much money.
If Lebron swam instead of did basketball, we’d be under 20 in the 50 free by now
The things that make him good at basketball wouldn’t necessarily make him good at swimming.
I don’t think so. Swimming only gets ratings during Olympics. Check out the ratings all other years! Usa swimming has to pay to get on tv. I bet bowling or chess draw more viewers!
Everyone has to pay to get on TV… that’s what sponsors do — they pay for the sports you see on TV. No sponsors, no ads, no TV.
You forgot about spectators. No spectators, no sponsors. Who do you see on the strands at NCAA? Family members, a few alumni and little children.
You want money to come – make a swimming meet an unpredictable spectacle..
I remember how much excitement was around tennis competition in our city park when due to handicapped system everybody had a chance to win. Players didn’t know the terms and it forced everybody to play at their best even against schoolchildren.
I don’t advise to do same thing in swimming but when a swimmer can skip the final of PPS just to catch a more convenient flight home I’m losing any interest to this competition. Or when at some… Read more »
Yeah! Whilst we’re at it let’s take money from all those bankers and lawyers and give it to teachers and nurses. The money they deserve.
From each his means to each his need baby!
Caleb Dressel could earn a lot of money…free,fly, breast, and ind. me…
I just want to see him at SC worlds. A full team with guys like Murphy/Dressel/MA/Held/Pieroni could do some serious damage
i see that too…
Now that a lot of the NCAA standouts of the past couple of years (Ledecky, Manuel, Murphy, Dressel…etc have turned pro it will be interesting to see who tries their cards and races at these meets and SC worlds
Simone Manuel and Katie Ledecky.are still students in college taking a full load while still training. Caeleb Dressel is done with school. I doubt he does through. It would be fun.
I don’t understand why would he not race in World Cup?
It’s easy money, it’s good for his sponsors, and he is a professional swimmer anyway.
Not sure how much he would make. He isn’t that special during the season.
Presumably if he swam World Cup he’d be doing less training than with Troy full time. Just the time he’d need to get to Doha and adjust to the time difference would be a few days rest.
He’s got nothing between now and next summer. No NCAA season. No reason he can’t rest a bit for this. Lochte managed it.
Belmonte is the S/C WR holder for the 400, 800 and 1500m. Ledecky would smash all three. Her long course WR in the 1500m is less than a second slower than Belmonte’s short course mark. Ledecky would likely go sub 15 min in short course if she really wanted to.
No point in smashing them, Steve Nolan had the right idea: just chip away, and earn the $10,000 bonus each time.