Sources tell SwimSwam that the International Swimming League (ISL) has begun making Season 3 solidarity payments nearly two years after the organization blamed Russia’s war in Ukraine for continued delays.
One swimmer told SwimSwam that they received a text from ISL commissioner Ben Allen that the Tokyo Frog Kings’ solidarity payment had been sent to the team and that a plan was in place to make remaining payments That swimmer, who is on another team, says they still have not been paid yet.
Allen did not respond to SwimSwam’s request for comment.
The league’s founder and primary financier Konstantin Grigorishin was born in the USSR and acquired Ukrainian citizenship in 2016. Most of the billionaire’s business holdings are located in Ukraine, and he has also made money via the import of energy and natural resources from Russia. Prior to the outbreak of Russia’s war in Ukraine in February of 2022, the ISL said that the conflict wouldn’t impact funding of future seasons. Grigorishin was one of four Ukrainian businessmen who had their assets seized by the government last November.
The ISL repeatedly failed to make timely payments to swimmers, vendors, and other partners during its three seasons from 2019-21. Solidarity payments, essentially the swimmers’ base salary, were set at $7,500 for Season 3, which was half of what they were a season prior.
ISL swimmers were initially told that Season 3 solidarity payments would arrive in five monthly installments beginning in October of 2021.
In total, $6.9 million was earmarked for athletes in Season 3, with around $13 million scheduled for the Season 4 that never happened. The league has been publicly silent since cancelling Season 4 in March 2022 after the outbreak of war between Ukraine and Russia, the personal and financial homelands of the league’s financier and principle investor Konstantin Grigorishin. Sources have told SwimSwam, though, that Allen, especially, is continuing to push forward on the possibility of restarting the endeavor.
The ISL was accused of financial mismanagement by the former general manager of Energy Standard Club and the ex-commercial director of the ISL in a letter to SwimSwam in September of 2021.
“The work has not been easy,” the ISL said after reports surfaced that Season 1 vendors still had not been paid their full amount owed ahead of Season 3. “For the first two seasons, we have been mostly focused on showcasing athlete talent and our product to the widest audience possible. We had hoped for meaningful revenues to come in but alongside the impact of the pandemic our commercial operations have also failed significantly with most projections not materialising. The way we approach the market will need to be different going forward.”
There was also conversation among athletes to boycott the events for non-payment.
Last January, the ISL lost a long-running legal dispute against World Aquatics in which the league accused the global governing body of antitrust violations. World Aquatics (then FINA) threatened suspensions if swimmers participated in the 2018 Energy for Swim competition, but a U.S. District Court judge in San Francisco still ruled against the ISL in part because they deemed World Aquatics’ cooperation unnecessary for the ISL to host its own meets. The league and a trio of swimmers — Tom Shields, Michael Andrew, and Katinka Hosszu — filed an appeal last June.
I’m going to call him “Dwayne Rock” for the rest of my life.
i bet lebron james is behind this somehow after all
Lets not forget that Ben Allen and Matt Dawe are crypto debtors. Crypto is pumping, so a safe assumption is that Grigorshin bought off some of their bad debt (instead of paying the athletes) with instructions to convert crypto assets to USD when the bull market is returning. Anyways, one anonymous (unverified) swimmer report isn’t enough. Get Kitjima or Dave Salo to comment and this worthy news.
The one swimmers is neither unverified nor anonymous to us, and we spoke to at least four sources who gave the same information.
Get Mr.Beast to sponsor the ISL. Create silly videos/swimming challenges with the ISL swimmers. Profit.
Mr. Beast would put 2 swimmers per lane and let them bump and grind during races.
Or have a “whoever can stay in the pool the longest wins $100,000”.
is youtube on board w/ bumpin’ and grindin’
“I’ll be giving $10,000,000 to whoever can stay in this pool for an entire year without getting out once”
OMG IS IT COMING BACK MY DREAM
The payment issues caused a lost of retirings!
The ritirings would’ve happened even sooner without ISL.
Any such sporting entity that is dependent on a sole funding source, especially in the case of individuals, is likely to “hit the rocks”; either when said individual’s business interests strike problems and/or said individual’s interest in the venture wane.
There WAS much to like with the ISL; particularly how so many international stars took to the format so enthusiastically; but the doubts over its financial survivability were always there and eventually sunk it.
It was that coupled with the unwillingness to work well with other stakeholders or listen to feedback from their audience.
It was never set up to be a business, for the reasons we’ve both stated and others. It was always a hobby, a passion project.
As long as the league pays people what they’re owed, then good for them. Rich people can spend their money however they like. It is still disappointing for the rest of us, though, who I think got our hopes up.
Very much concur. It’s a wonder that some of the stakeholders such as Sandeno, Krayzelburg & Woodhouse stuck as long as they did and having a direct stake in one of the competing entities (Energy Standard) was not optics as regards ethics.. Stiffing the swimmers as well as one’s contractors was the final nail.
Passion project may be a tad too kind. Whilst I may be willing to concede Grigorishin may have a legitimate love of the sport, ego project may be more appropriate looking at the operations.
I don’t know, I’ve met Konstantin, I sat in the first meeting where they introduced the project to the athletes. Of course any project like this involves some ego, but I don’t think that undercuts his passion for swimming.
The guy genuinely loves swimming – he loves swimming at a level that I’ve seen very few adults express. I think he connects to it as much on a visceral level as a competitive level.
That Australian lady, who’s financing half the national team maybe… She’s got way more money than the Ukranian guy.