Swimming prize money
306 swimmers have been paid £6,720,222 across 42 editions from 2021 to 2025. Kate Douglass has won the most, £271,111. A World Cup stop in the pool pays the top twenty men and women from $12,000 down to $4,000, and the season standings pay the top eight from $100,000, with $10,000 more for a world record and, from 2022, for each Triple Crown: one event won at all three stops. In open water each World Cup 10km pays eight places from $3,500, and the standings pay ten, with $50,000 to the winner since 2023.
The swimming money list
The top 100 of 306 swimmers by career prize money
The top fifteen
Every competition
24 competitions, by the prize money each has paid
The fifteen richest competitions
Season by season
What swimming paid each year, and who earned the most
| YEAR | TOP EARNER | EDITIONS | PAID |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Hubert Kos | 9 | £1,500,741£1.5m |
| 2024 | Kate Douglass | 10 | £1,463,926£1.5m |
| 2023 | Kaylee McKeown | 9 | £1,412,222£1.4m |
| 2022 | Dylan Carter | 9 | £1,260,370£1.3m |
| 2021 | Emma McKeon | 5 | £1,082,963£1.1m |
Prize money paid per year
Swimming prize money by country
42 nations, by what their swimmers have won
| # | NATION | SWIMMERS | PRIZE MONEY |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States | 48 | £1,354,926£1.4m |
| 2 | Australia | 33 | £802,000£802k |
| 3 | Italy | 24 | £611,741£612k |
| 4 | France | 15 | £422,926£423k |
| 5 | Hungary | 14 | £414,889£415k |
| 6 | Netherlands | 13 | £396,593£397k |
| 7 | South Africa | 6 | £312,593£313k |
| 8 | China | 10 | £295,444£295k |
| 9 | Canada | 12 | £261,111£261k |
| 10 | Germany | 16 | £237,259£237k |
| 11 | Hong Kong | 1 | £215,037£215k |
| 12 | Switzerland | 4 | £164,704£165k |
| 13 | Trinidad and Tobago | 1 | £142,741£143k |
| 14 | Lithuania | 3 | £124,889£125k |
| 15 | Sweden | 6 | £117,185£117k |
| 16 | Brazil | 5 | £108,037£108k |
| 17 | Poland | 3 | £84,778£85k |
| 18 | Russia | 15 | £76,222£76k |
| 19 | Great Britain | 8 | £75,296£75k |
| 20 | Japan | 10 | £62,519£63k |
| 21 | New Zealand | 2 | £57,778£58k |
| 22 | Israel | 3 | £48,370£48k |
| 23 | Spain | 2 | £34,185£34k |
| 24 | Belgium | 7 | £34,037£34k |
| 25 | Slovenia | 2 | £30,074£30k |
| 26 | South Korea | 9 | £29,407£29k |
| 27 | Ireland | 3 | £25,333£25k |
| 28 | Estonia | 3 | £23,556£24k |
| 29 | Czechia | 3 | £13,815£14k |
| 30 | Greece | 2 | £10,370£10k |
| 31 | Monaco | 1 | £8,852£9k |
| 32 | Finland | 1 | £7,259£7k |
| 33 | Austria | 2 | £7,111£7k |
| 34 | Turkey | 1 | £7,037£7k |
| 35 | Singapore | 2 | £6,519£7k |
| 36 | Denmark | 1 | £6,296£6k |
| 37 | Serbia | 2 | £6,296£6k |
| 38 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 1 | £3,185£3k |
| 39 | Slovakia | 1 | £3,111£3k |
| 40 | Portugal | 2 | £2,296£2k |
| 41 | Ukraine | 1 | £704£704 |
| 42 | Ecuador | 1 | £481£481 |
The leading nations
Frequently asked questions
Who has won the most prize money in swimming?
Kate Douglass, with £271,111 and 5 titles. Siobhan Haughey is second on £215,037.
What is the biggest winner's cheque in swimming?
Hubert Kos took £74,074 for winning the 2025 Swimming World Cup series, the largest single first prize we hold.
How much prize money was paid in swimming in 2025?
£1,500,741 across 9 editions. Hubert Kos earned the most that year, £136,296.
Which competition pays the most?
World Cup series has paid £2,549,630 across 5 editions. The richest single edition was the 2025 Swimming World Cup series, at £558,519.
Which country has won the most swimming prize money?
United States, with £1,354,926 across 48 swimmers.
Where to next
For every country's prize money across swimming and every other sport we hold, see prize money by nation. The richest competition here is World Cup series, and the latest year is 2025. The men's and women's fields are set side by side on men's vs women's swimming prize money, and every sport's cases on where women earn more prize money than men.