Have you ever watched swimming that wasn’t in the Olympics? Probably not.
The International Swimming League (ISL) is the child of Konstantin Grigorishin, who has set out to change that. The Ukrainian-Russian billionaire funded the inaugural season out of his own --- deep --- pockets to help make professional swimming a viable career option for elite athletes.
Running from October to December 2019, seven cities hosted eight international teams from the US, UK, Italy, Turkey and Hungary. The calendar dates are important because they allow the athletes to return to regular training for national teams in preparation for the Olympic Games.
UBC Thunderbirds Markus Thormeyer and Emily Overholt accepted their invitations to join one of the teams, the New York Breakers in late summer after stellar seasons with varsity and national teams.
“I thought it would be pretty interesting. It’s the first time something like this is happening,” said Thormeyer.
In essence, the league pitted two American teams versus two European each week. Each race is a final --- no heat or qualifying sessions that is. Furthermore, unlike traditional swimming meets, there is emphasis on placing and not times; the scoring is reverse ordered (1st receives 9pts, 8th receives 1pt).
In the end, the Breakers finished with a paltry three points and bottom place in the standings. Though Thormeyer doesn’t sweat it much.
“It’s just something we’re trying out … it’s new and seems exciting so far.”
New to international swimming is also the pay structure: Athletes are compensated $1,000 per race, and an additional $300 bonus per point scored. Teams that reach the final duel make $1,000 per point scored, with the league champions taking $10,000 each.
Also appetizing for swimmers is the fact that they don’t have to relocate to represent their teams; Thormeyer and Overholt continued training at the UBC High Performance Centre while racing under the New York banner.
[insert Overholt quote when she gets back to me lol]
Only time will tell if the ISL can survive. It will have to face challenges from the monopolistic agency that governs the sport --- FINA --- which had already threatened to ban athletes from participating. More importantly, the league will have to show it can make money through a reliable fanbase, and sponsorship deals.