This Swim Meet is Giving Athletes a GIANT Payday

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As reported earlier this month, many big names are heading to Shenzen, China, in March to compete at the China Open. The meet has now confirmed over a dozen international Olympic medalists from the USA, Australia, and Europe. See full list below: Jack Alexy Regan Smith Kate Douglass Alex Walsh Gretchen Walsh Kyle Chalmers Cam McEvoy Mollie O’Callaghan Lani Pallister Lukas Martens Noe Ponti Thomas Ceccon Siobhan Haughey Pieter Coetze Arno Kamminga Nicolo Martinenghi Kliment Kolesnikov That is in addition to top domestic talent competing at the meet, including world record holder Pan Zhanle and teenage sensation Yu Zidi. We wouldn’t see quite so many foreign athletes make the haul to China for what seems to be a fairly standard in-season meet in March, but China has decided to sweeten the pot. Big time. These international Olympic medalists are receiving massive appearance fees of up to $20,000, plus getting flights and hotels paid for. On top of that, once they actually start competing, the prize payouts are $10,000 for 1st place in each race, $8,000 for 2nd, and $6,000 for 3rd. To put that into context, at the US Pro Swim Series, athletes get $1,500, $1,000, and $500 for the same placement. Not only is the money great for swimming, but the timing makes a lot of sense for many professional swimmers around the world. In the USA, many pros who are based on college campuses aren’t getting very much attention in March as their coaches are focused on the NCAA Championships. For other pros internationally, the LCM season is just kicking off and it’s a good time to travel abroad and get race reps in. Plus, many athletes will use this as a test run for the 2026 Short Course World Championships, which will be held in Beijing in December.