2023 WORLD AQUATICS SWIMMING WORLD CUP – BERLIN
- October 6-8, 2023
- Berlin, Germany
- LCM (50 meters)
- Meet Central
- Full Entry List
- Live Results
- Day 1 Finals Recap / Day 2 Finals Recap / Day 3 Finals Recap
Kaylee McKeown and Qin Haiyang were the top performers of the opening leg of the 2023 World Cup Series last weekend in Berlin, making them the highest earners on the circuit thus far with two more stops to go.
As the top point-scorers from the three-day meet, McKeown and Qin earned $12,000 (USD) apiece to lead all swimmers, while Zhang Yufei and Thomas Ceccon also earned five-figure paydays as the #2 ranked swimmers in Berlin.
The top-20 point scorers for both men and women receive prize money from each leg of the series, and then a separate prize pool will be distributed to the overall series leaders at the conclusion of the third and final leg in Budapest.
WOMEN’S PRIZE MONEY RANKINGS – BERLIN
| Rank | Swimmer | Points | Prize Money |
| 1 | Kaylee McKeown (AUS) | 58.6 | $12,000 |
| 2 | Zhang Yufei (CHN) | 55.2 | $10,000 |
| 3 | Siobhan Haughey (HKG) | 54.1 | $8,000 |
| 4 | Sarah Sjostrom (SWE) | 53.8 | $6,000 |
| 5 | Erika Fairweather (NZL) | 53.6 | $5,500 |
| 6 | Lani Pallister (AUS) | 51.6 | $5,400 |
| 7 | Katie Grimes (USA) | 50.5 | $5,300 |
| 8 | Eneli Jefimova (EST) | 49.4 | $5,200 |
| 9 | Cate Campbell (AUS) | 46.5 | $5,100 |
| 10 | Kylie Masse (CAN) | 45 | $5,000 |
| 11 | Torri Huske (USA) | 44.2 | $4,900 |
| 12 | Letitia Sim (SGP) | 43.8 | $4,800 |
| 13 | Angelina Kohler (GER) | 41.8 | $4,700 |
| 14 | Jenna Strauch (AUS) | 41.6 | $4,600 |
| 15 | Ingrid Wilm (CAN) | 41.3 | $4,500 |
| 16 | Isabel Gose (GER) | 38.6 | $4,400 |
| 17 | Helena Bach (DEN) | 38.5 | $4,300 |
| 18 | Maaike de Waard (NED) | 37.6 | $4,200 |
| 19 | Sydney Pickrem (CAN) | 37.5 | $4,100 |
| 20 | Marrit Steenbergen (NED) | 37.2 | $4,000 |
Despite the fact that a swimmer only earns points for their top three performances at each meet (see more on the scoring format below), McKeown won four events in Berlin, sweeping the women’s backstroke events while also claiming the 200 IM. The Aussie set World Cup Records in all three backstroke events.
Zhang won the women’s 100 and 200 fly, and added a runner-up finish in the 50 fly behind Sarah Sjostrom, who finished 4th in the women’s rankings and earned $6,000.
Ranking 3rd for the women was Siobhan Haughey, who won the women’s 100 free, 200 free and also took 3rd in the 400 free. Haughey, who walks away with $8,000, had the top FINA point swim of the meet, scoring 982 in the 100 free after setting a new Asian Record in 52.02.
MEN’S PRIZE MONEY RANKINGS – BERLIN
| Rank | Swimmer | Points | Prize Money |
| 1 | Qin Haiyang (CHN) | 58.7 | $12,000 |
| 2 | Thomas Ceccon (ITA) | 57.7 | $10,000 |
| 3 | Danas Rapsys (LTU) | 54.8 | $8,000 |
| 4 | Michael Andrew (USA) | 54.5 | $6,000 |
| 5 | Matt Sates (RSA) | 54.4 | $5,500 |
| 6 | Ben Armbruster (AUS) | 49 | $5,400 |
| 7 | Isaac Cooper (AUS) | 48.2 | $5,300 |
| 8 | Arno Kamminga (NED) | 48 | $5,200 |
| 9 | Ryosuke Irie (JPN) | 45.3 | $5,100 |
| 10 | Trenton Julian (USA) | 44.4 | $5,000 |
| 11 | Kieran Smith (USA) | 43.7 | $4,900 |
| 12 | Brendon Smith (AUS) | 43 | $4,800 |
| 13 | Nic Fink (USA) | 40.3 | $4,700 |
| 14 | Dylan Carter (TTO) | 39.3 | $4,600 |
| 15 | Stan Pijnenburg (NED) | 37.2 | $4,500 |
| 16 | Balazs Hollo (HUN) | 36.6 | $4,400 |
| 17 | Szebasztian Szabo (HUN) | 35.2 | $4,300 |
| 18 | Kregor Zirk (EST) | 33.7 | $4,200 |
| 19 | Victor Johansson (SWE) | 31.8 | $4,100 |
| 20 | Zheng Wen Quah (SGP) | 30.4 | $4,000 |
On the men’s side, Qin swept the breaststroke events in World Cup Record fashion to score 58.7 points and earn the $12,000 total, notching three of the top-four FINA point swims for the men, led by his 200 breast effort (965).
Ceccon was a close runner-up after he went three-for-three in Berlin, winning the men’s 100 free, 100 back and 200 back. His 100 back showing of 52.27 scored 962 FINA points, good for second among men.
Lithuania’s Danas Rapsys had two wins and one runner-up finish to rank third among the men and claim $8,000, while American Michael Andrew swam in five finals and ended up ranking fourth after securing two wins in the 50 back and 100 fly.
CHANGE FROM SHORT COURSE TO LONG COURSE
In 2022, when the series was being contested in short course meters, Beata Nelson won the women’s overall series title, while Dylan Carter edged out Nic Fink for the men.
We’re already seeing the change come into effect in terms of who the top performers are, as Fink and Carter find themselves back in 13th and 14th place, respectively, for the men, while Nelson didn’t quite make the money in Berlin as she sits down in 22nd after scoring 34.7 points.
Haughey, who finished second behind Nelson last year, is the lone standout from Berlin who also was a top-three finisher last year.
How Athletes Score Points
Swimmers score points at the World Cup series based on their top three performances from each meet, taking into account both their finish in the event and their FINA points score.
Finishing Position Scoring
| Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th |
| Points | 10 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
FINA Points Scoring
- 990-999 points = 9.9 points
- 980-989 points = 9.8 points
- 970-979 FINA points = 9.7 points, etc.
The top 20 point scorers from each meet will earn prize money, ranging from $12,000 down to $4,000.
Once the series concludes, the top eight overall scorers will earn money from a separate prize pool, with the winner claiming $100,000 and 8th place taking home $10,000.
With $224,000 being handed out at all three stops ($112,000 per gender), and then $524,000 being distributed at the end of the series to the overall leaders ($262,000 per gender), a minimum of $1.196 million will be awarded during the series. More money will be handed out if a swimmer breaks a world record or wins the same event at all three stops ($10,000 bonus).
Who holds the record for total earnings? Katinka Hosszu?
Yep, I’m pretty sure they changed the rules because of her. I remember her earning $300k+ one year.
Peanuts compared with other sports.
Hmmm that seems like the logical guess, but the prize money system swings so wildly from era to era it’s hard to know for sure. Would be dependent on whether she was in a high money era or a low money era in addition to the number of wins.
There have been other swimmers who had a lot of World Cup wins in prior eras, plus the 2008-2009 World Record bonanzas.
Therese Alshammar won 4 series titles, for example.
Kaylee gunna be rich
Best case scenario:
Overall winner – $100k
3 x stop winner – $12k x 3 = $36k
4 x Triple Crown winner = $40k
Total = $176k USD = $273k AUD
That’s impressive but also depressing thinking about how long it takes me to earn that much.
Best case scenario is the one with WR.
WAQ give more money to WR according to the article.
Lol I was ignoring WR as it definitely isn’t something expected. If you want to get crazy the absolute best case scenario is that she breaks a WR every single time she gets in the pool and earns $200k+ in WR bonuses.
I mean, 50 and 100 is within her reach this year.
Don’t compare yourself to soccer, football, golf or tennis players then. They of course earn way more.
They earn it …… how many hours do swimmers put in!!!!
Oh not saying she doesn’t deserve it at all! And it’s not like she’s only doing 3 weeks worth of work. She works every single day but only gets paid when she wins.
I think swimmers deserve more money, I was just lamenting my life as a non-famous worker bee haha
Article says minimum $1.196m so Kaylee potentially will earn 11% of the prize money, that’s not including $40k for the crowns.
I think it’s great that Kaylee might earn that much, but have to remember she’s the very best of the best atm. Will be interesting to see what everyone else gets.
I think that minimum assumes no one earns a crown, because they are obviously not guaranteed to occur. But yeah that’s a bit insane!
It’s more depressing for Kaylee tbh – she’s the best in the world at what she does, based on the World Cup metrical and earns a few hundred thousand dollars.
Meanwhile the 10,000th best real estate agent earns I dunno $5million?
it’s a good thing world aquatics are so generously giving gOoD prize money to make it worth while for the athletes competing not like some of them aren’t spending more on travel and hotel expenses or anything.
It is good but I feel they could give a little to individual races. Just like… a couple hundred for making a final?
You could race all 3 stops and make 9 finals but still earn $0 if you’re not top 20 overall at any of them.
Imagine being the 8th best person at your job in the world and earning $0 for the week.
Why is Torri Huske so low at #11?
It goes off your best 3 events. She has 3 bronzes in ok times which is only enough for 11th. Everyone above her has at least one silver and probably more points for swimming better times.
But according to this article, Torri Huske led the scoring table after 2 days
https://staging.swimswam.com/scoring-leaders-likely-winners-after-day-2-of-the-berlin-swimming-world-cup/
How did she fall from #1 to #11?
She had 3 scores after 2 days, whereas some of the top athletes had only competed in 2 events at that point.
As Miss M said, Huske only led after day 2 because she had swam 3 events while all of the other top swimmers had only swam 2.
Your best 3 events count for points. At the end of day 2, Kaylee McKeown had 50 back worth 19.7 and 100 back worth 19.7 for a total of 39.4. When she added the 200 back worth 19.2 points, her score increased by 19.2 points to 58.6.
At the end of day 2, Huske had 50 fly worth 14.4 points, 50 free worth 14.8 points and 200 free worth 10.3 points for a total of 39.5. When she added the 100 fly on day 3 worth 15.0 points, she lost the points of… Read more »
Ah got it. Thanks!
As Torri mentioned in some interviews, the World Cup are training meets for her. She is swimming more events than most of her competitors. She didn’t taper or even rest. Judging by the times, many swimmers are likely tapered or at a minimum rested a few days.
Well earned, Kaylee! Should be more.
I hope Beata Nelson can rebound!
Isn’t she a short course specialist?
That wasn’t but should’ve been selected for short course world in 2022.
Does Beata have the most differential in her short course and long course abilities out of all current elite swimmers?
(This is not meant to be derogatory, there’s no inherent superiority in LC over SC, it’s just interesting to me).