Breakaway swim league promising $7.5 million in prizemoney

After years if being underpaid, Australia’s top swimmers could soon hit the jackpot with a Kerry Packer-style breakaway professional breakaway league with a plan to stage the final in Las Vegas.

Emily Seebohm was among the elite swimmers to hear Konstantin Grigorishin reveal his vision for swimming. Picture: Getty Images

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After years of being starved of cash and given only occasional moments in the spotlight, Australia’s fastest swimmers have hit the jackpot and could soon find themselves among the headline acts in the entertainment capital of the world, Las Vegas.

Not only that, but Olympic and world champion swimmers, many of whom currently make less than minimum wage, will get the chance to travel the world, all-expenses paid, and earn a decent buck instead of just being banished to the practice pool and working part-time jobs to make ends meet.

That’s the promise from the Ukrainian billionaire who wants to do for swimmers what the late Kerry Packer did for cricketers, by establishing a breakaway professional league.

Konstantin Grigorishin unveiled his stunning vision for the sport’s future at a meeting attended by 30 of the world’s best swimmers, including Australians Emily Seebohm and Madeline Groves, at a brainstorming session in London.

“You are in the entertainment business, show business,” Grigorishin told the swimmers.

Ukrainian billionaire Konstantin Grigorishin. Picture: Getty Images

Grigorishin plans to launch the ISL next year, offering almost $7.5 million in appearance money and bonuses for the initial season.

That figure is projected to rapidly increase once the event gains a foothold.

Around 360 swimmers will get the chance to share in the earnings when 12 teams — six from Europe and six from the United States — compete against each other in a 12-leg series from August to November next year.

Each team will be made of 24 competitors, 12 men and 12 women, which can be interchanged for different legs, and more than 50 swimmers have already signed up.

Organisers have plans to establish a stand-alone Australian team in the future but for now Australian swimmers will be allowed to compete for any team that picks them.

The six European teams for next year are London, Rome, Stuttgart, Marseilles, Budapest and Energy Standard.

The American teams are Los Angeles, Atlanta, San Francisco, Washington DC, Austin and Phoenix.

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