Prize money for medal winners at 2007 World Championships

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Prize money for medal winners at 2007 World Championships – no decision on waterpolo yet

A prize money will be paid to the medal of the FINA World Championships now.
Foto: Wolfgang Philipps
The World of aquatics is facing another visible change. Starting in 2007, FINA as governing body of world swimming will hand out a prize money of US$2 million at World Swimming Championships for the first time in history to be awarded to all medal winners. This announcement was made by FINA President Mustapha Larfaoui (Algeria) yesterday at FINA´s first world conference, which is currently held in Madrid, Spain.


Winners at the 2007 Wold Championships in Melbourne, Australia, will receive US$12,000 in prize money. The silver medallists will get US$7,000 and the third-place finishers will get US$5,000, but there was no concrete decision on the two waterpolo competition yet. “Teams sports, such as synchronized swimming and waterpolo, will get more money for winning,” Marculescu added. FINA also announced there would be US$500,000 in prize money at the 2008 Short-course World Swimming Championships in Manchester, Great Britain.

"We are trying to improve this product and alluring more people into the sport is the goal," Marculescu said to media representatives. The latest decision is also expected to calm critics by top swimmers and officials, who want to participate in the earnings of FINA. Up to now prize money was only paid to athletes in the Swimming World Cup and for World records at Short-course Swimming Championships. In waterpolo prize money is only paid in FINA World League competitions, but this not awarded to the athletes, but their respective national federations.

The governing body of world swimming also stressed the strategic plan to consolidate swimming´s place as a leading international sport, which was first announced at the 2005 FINA World Swimming Championships in Montreal, Canada. Delegates from African and South American federations said a lack of infrastructure, sponsorship and funds were the main reasons behind swimming´s lack of popularity in those continents, which is also visible in waterpolo pretty often by vacancies in FINA events.

Thus FINA agreed to cover the costs of transportation, meals and accommodations for 2,500 athletes at next year´s World Championships in Melbourne. The athletes chosen are to be spread out across all the federations and are will be based on their participation in past events, FINA officials explained. "This is one of the ways FINA can accept some of the federations expenses so it can spend these funds on building infrastructure instead," FINA executive director Cornel Marculescu said.