The biggest news in the world swimming scene this week is that British 50m freestyle star Ben Proud officially announced that he had signed a contract with the World "Enhanced" Sports Games and would join this competition where stimulants can be used.
In the first few months of the World Swimming Federation, players participating in the "Enhanced" sports meeting will be banned from participating in normal swimming competitions. Even under such strict bans, Proud, runner-up in the men's 50m freestyle at the 24-year Paris Olympics, chose to sign the contract.
In line with the public criticism of the British Swimming Association, Proud publicly stated that it was for money to participate in the doping sports meeting. The athlete's career income cannot allow him to ensure his life after retirement. The money earned by participating in an "enhanced" sports meeting requires the income from winning the 13-year championship in the World Swimming Championships.
The World Championships broke the world record with a prize of 25,000-30,000 yuan
This is a cruel fact. In events with low professionalism and commercialization, athletes can get very few competition bonuses. Even swimming is already one of the professional projects with relatively high attention.
The 2025 Singapore World Swimming Championships, the total prize money of six events, including swimming, diving, water polo, synchronized swimming, open water and high-level diving, was US$6 million, while the number of athletes participating in the swimming event was as high as 1,079, with a total prize money of less than US$3 million, and 70% of the players earned less than US$500.
According to the results, McIntosh had the highest bonus, and the prize money he received was less than 90,000 US dollars. Moreover, the World Swimming Championships are held every two years. Marshan broke the world record and the bonus was not as high as McIntosh, but the commercial value was high.
Marshan has LV endorsement
The newly ended US Open, the men's and women's singles champions had a prize of $5 million, and the singles runner-up bonus was $2.5 million. As long as you enter the top 128 of the singles, you will have a prize of $110,000.
Australia Open, which has the lowest prize in the four major tennis slams, also has a championship of 3.5 million Australian dollars (about 16.33 million RMB), almost the same as the total prize in swimming events in the World Championships.
US Open Championship and Runner-up
Of course, the cost of training and competition in tennis is much higher than that in swimming. Most athletes bear the training costs themselves, while most Olympic events rely on financial grants from national (regional) associations. Even after becoming the Olympic champion in 2016, Schestron frequently participates in the competition to repay the mortgage.
And the attention and exposure of tennis are also incomparable to the Olympics.
So when the stimulant sports event throws out millions of dollars in bonus temptation, many swimmers will be moved.
