Dolphins stars Mollie O’Callaghan, Ariarne Titmus and Sam Short clean up in Fukuoka
Teenage star Mollie O’Callaghan was the biggest winner outside the pool in Fukuoka, with Australia’s swimmers raking in the medals and the prizemoney.
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Australia’s golden swimmers hit the jackpot at the world swimming championships in Fukuoka, Japan – earning an eye watering $883,000 over eight nights of competition.
With the sport’s governing body now giving away bucketloads of prize money to the best swimmers – a change from years gone by when they spent most of the cash on lavish hotels and meals for executives – the Aussies have cashed in big time.
Australia finished top of the medals table with 13 golds, seven silvers and five bronzes – which earned them a matzo.
Along with a shiny gold medal, each race win came with a prize of $30,000. Silver medallists received $22,500 and bronze medallists $15,000 while anyone who made a final got something – including $3,000 for coming eighth.
There were also bonuses of $44,000 for any world records that were broken, which either all went to individuals or were split between relay members.
The Dolphins broke five world records during the meet: Mollie O’Callaghan (women’s 200m freestyle), Ariarne Titmus (women’s 400m freestyle), women’s 4x100m freestyle, women’s 4x200m freestyle and the mixed s 4x100m freestyle relay.
O’Callaghan was involved in four of the world records and also won the individual world.
The 19-year finished with six medals – five gold and one silver – earning her $142,000 for the week.
Titmus, who won two golds, a silver and bronze, came away with around $123,000, while Kaylee McKeown, officially named best female swimmer of the meet after winning three individual golds in backstroke, banks$97,00.
The leading man was Sam Short, won individual gold, silver and bronze medals, with $68,000 while Kyle Chalmers pockets $51,000 after winning his individual world title and starring in the relays.
“I sent my Mum a link to a dog yesterday, so maybe I'll treat myself to a dog after this,“ Chalmers said.
“But it‘s handy. It’s something we don’t think about all that often. I’ll probably buy a few beers when I go home next week and get back into training in a couple of weeks’ time. But it is nice to kind of earn some money.
“It allows us to be professional athletes and train through.
“Obviously we don‘t get paid a huge amount of money, so every little bit of money that we’re able to get along the way is a huge bonus in kind of allowing us to travel interstate and accommodation and coaching fees and all the things that come with us being professional swimmers.”
Striking it rich
The biggest winners
Mollie O’Callaghan – $142,000
Ariarne Titmus – $123,000
Kaylee McKeown – $97,000
Sam Short – $68,000
Shayna Jack – $60,000
Kyle Chalmers – $51,000
The Australian team’s total earning in Fukuoka: $883,000
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