*The prize money remains basically unchanged – with $1,000 more being given to high diving, although
Prize money at the 2017 FINA World Aquatics Championships is almost exactly the same as it was at the 2015 championships. The only difference is that prize money for the women’s high diving event has been increased by $1,000, awarding prizes to the 13th and 14th finishers in the field – bringing it in line with the men’s event.
FINA expanded prize money rapidly at the World Championships in the last quadrennial. From 2013 to 2015, the available prize money (not including swimming World Records) grew by 76%. This increase was in line with a rapid expansion of FINA income. For the period from 2013-2016, an audited report states that FINA’s income was 181,327,361 Swiss Francs ($188 million USD). During the previous four-year period, 2009-2012, their income was just 122 million Swiss ranks ($126 million USD). Total expenditures also grew in that period, but not by as much as income – with FINA earning “excess income” (similar to profits, but for a non-profit organization) of 40 million Swiss Francs ($41.5 million USD), as compared to 16 million Swiss Francs ($16.6 million USD) during the prior period.
In short, in spite of exploding FINA income and profits, they opted not to expand the prize money at the 2017 championships.
FINA’s reporting says that it spends the biggest portion of its “Events Expenditure” bucket on athlete prize money, at 24%. The “Events Expenditure” made up roughly two-thirds of FINA’s overall expenditures from 2013-2016, which means that the amount of total FINA expenditures (16%) spent on prize money trails only the amount spent on Administration expenses (17%).
Below is the splitout of prize money available at the 2017 World Aquatics Championships.
| No. of Events | Prize $ Per | Total Prize $ | |
| Swimming | 42 | $60,000 | $2,520,000 |
| Open Water Swimming | 7 | $60,000 | $420,000 |
| Diving | 13 | $60,000 | $780,000 |
| Men’s High Diving | 1 | $63,900 | $63,900 |
| Women’s High Diving | 1 | $63,900 | $63,900 |
| Solo/Duet Synchro | 6 | $60,000 | $360,000 |
| Team Synchro | 3 | $177,500 | $532,500 |
| Water Polo | 2 | $360,000 | $720,000 |
| Total | $5,460,300 | ||
| $30,000 | |||
| SWIMMING | OW SWIMMING | DIVING | MEN’S HIGH DIVING | WOMEN’S HIGH DIVING | SYNCHRO (SOLO & DUET) | SYNCHRO (TEAM & FREE) | WATER POLO | |
| 1st | $20,000 | $20,000 | $20,000 | $20,000 | $20,000 | $20,000 | $50,000 | $80,000 |
| 2nd | $15,000 | $15,000 | $15,000 | $15,000 | $15,000 | $15,000 | $40,000 | $70,000 |
| 3rd | $10,000 | $10,000 | $10,000 | $10,000 | $10,000 | $10,000 | $30,000 | $60,000 |
| 4th | $5,000 | $5,000 | $5,000 | $5,000 | $5,000 | $5,000 | $20,000 | $50,000 |
| 5th | $4,000 | $4,000 | $4,000 | $4,000 | $4,000 | $4,000 | $15,000 | $40,000 |
| 6th | $3,000 | $3,000 | $3,000 | $3,000 | $3,000 | $3,000 | $10,000 | $30,000 |
| 7th | $2,000 | $2,000 | $2,000 | $2,000 | $2,000 | $2,000 | $7,500 | $20,000 |
| 8th | $1,000 | $1,000 | $1,000 | $1,000 | $1,000 | $1,000 | $5,000 | $10,000 |
| 9th | $900 | $900 | ||||||
| 10th | $800 | $800 | ||||||
| 11th | $700 | $700 | ||||||
| 12th | $500 | $500 | ||||||
| 13th | $500 | $500 | ||||||
| 14th | $500 | $500 |
So can NCAA swimmers take the prize money or not? I know before her senior year at Cal Natalie Coughlin bought a condo in Berkeley with her medal money from international meets.
Yes, this type of money can.
Call me old fashioned but I don’t think there should be prize money at the World Championships. You compete for gold, silver, bronze and that’s what matters. What there should be is a fair share of money to the federations participating for developmental purposes. If the federations want to give their own swimmers bonuses that’s fine. WC Prize money only helps the ones already making money on the sport, the same athletes that get bonuses from their sponsors.
FINA money should instead be used to create a real GP circuit, and by real I mean long course meters. Swimming needs to become more of 12 month sport and then maybe the more regular elite swimmers could be making a buck… Read more »
Yes, you are old fashioned 🙂 FINA, home federations and sponsors can/will give them money for a good result. Money award of this WC’s is about 4% of FINA’s total income. So exactly nothing.
So only top 8 for swimming take money ? Not too 16??
Texas – that’s correct.
So can Ledecky take the money.or not??
that my question too.. the answers have been ambiguous at most….
She can. Every nickel. FINA doesn’t care. The downside though is that she’d lose her amateur status and wouldn’t be allowed to compete in the NCAA any more.
NCAA athletes can take gold medal money, so she gets all of it! don’t worry about Katie and money!
I’m confused, is it ranks or franks
Picturing FINA accountants cheering NCAA athletes in Budapest .
I believe NCAA athletes can accept WC prize money. If I remember right, Schooling made a killing off Kazan.
That was from the Singaporean federation not from FINA
so no money for NCAA athletes?? thats lame. and what about USA swimming?
ncaa athletes are allowed to take this prize money, known as ‘gold medal money’ and usa swimming matches it or even gives them more…..so your stereotyping of fina and usa swimming in this case is wrong
And for some reason he’s still an “amateur”
It’s a bit convoluted. Athletes can accept reward money from their national federations, but not from FINA, allegedly. There is even gray area in that – you can accept money to cover your costs, which is pretty nebulous. Ultimately, there aren’t so much as ‘rules’ as there are ‘interpretations of rules,’ and as most compliance folks would say, it’s not allowed by or against the rules until you get called before the NCAA to adjudicate it.
yes, ncaa athletes can take “Gold Medal money” or in this case 1st thru 8th. So no matter who wins, the money is theirs.
They have 180 million dollars yet only offer 5.5 million to the swimmers? I know FINA does other things, but come on, do they even try to hide their corruption? Seriously, how much of that 188 million do you thing is in a private swiss bank accounts owned by old men? Probably alot.
the truth is never hidden for too long ….
If I am not mistaken, they also get 15 million ($) from IOC per year, so their yearly average income is around 60 whilst they spend 12-15 on swimming meets, everything included. 75% is to keep alive the problem itself.
Ryan Murphy is gonna make a cool 40g