Jury trial begins in international swim organization antitrust case

SAN FRANCISCO (CN) — A swimming league previously funded by a Russian-Ukrainian billionaire told a jury Monday that another international swimming organization, World Aquatics, blocked it from hosting events in 2018 and prevented it from obtaining sponsors by not allowing elite athletes to swim in the new league.

In a federal court in California Monday, eight jurors heard opening arguments from the plaintiff International Swimming League (ISL) and defendant World Aquatics, a Swiss-based international swimming nonprofit that governs standards and rules for six professional water sports and consists of 210 national member federations. World Aquatics, formerly known as the Fédération Internationale de Natation (FINA), administers the Olympic Games and World Championships in swimming, water polo, artistic swimming, diving, high diving and open water swimming competitions.

In U.S. District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley’s courtroom, William Isaacson, an attorney with the law firm Dunn Isaacson Rhee LLP representing ISL, said World Aquatics violated the Sherman Antitrust Act by threatening to penalize swimmers, including with suspension and potential disqualification from the Olympics, if they joined ISL or swam in its events.

“It’s an antitrust conspiracy used by FINA to stop competition,” Isaacson told the jury.

He said because World Aquatics controlled all the national federations, and its general rules prohibited the federations and their swimmers from working with “unauthorized or suspended bodies,” the ISL was stymied and unable to secure sponsorships, including after it started hosting events in 2019, almost a year after the league filed its initial lawsuit.

After ISL filed its lawsuit, World Aquatics amended its rules to allow swimmers to participate in unsanctioned leagues and clubs. But ISL contends it is owed over $40 million in damages from missed opportunities in 2018, including a canceled event in Italy, which it claims would have drawn media attention and sponsors.

In his opening statement, defense attorney Christopher Yates, with Latham & Watkins LLP, said ISL’s antitrust claim falls short, because thousands of swimming events take place every year that are unaffiliated with and not approved by World Aquatics, and the organization’s rules apply only to affiliated federations.

“[The ISL] had full and fair opportunity to compete in the marketplace,” Yates said.

He also said ISL approached World Aquatics to form a partnership that would give World Aquatics’ approval and experience to the new enterprise. Yates said Konstantin Grigorishin, the creator of the ISL, proposed to pay World Aquatics $50 million over ten years for exclusivity.

However, no deal was ever made, due to what Yates’ described as mismanagement by ISL and Grigorishin’s criticisms of the Olympics spooking potential sponsors.

“In the real world companies were not interested to have their brands represented by the ISL,” he told the jury.

Yates said that even after World Aquatics amended its rules and the ISL hosted 40 events in 2019, 2020 and 2021, the league was unable to attract sponsors and pay its debts after filing its lawsuit and being “embroiled in controversy.”

“Even the best run startups can fail,”Yates said, asserting the ISL “had no reason for running a sports league.”

“Mr. Grigorishin is looking for someone to blame for his failure,” Yates added.

The first witness called to the stand, World Aquatics official Dale Neuburger, said in his sworn testimony that after months of negotiations regarding a potential partnership between ISL and World Aquatics, the ISL acted “inappropriately” and sent out documents to USA Swimming, one of the national federations, without any mention of or to World Aquatics.

Grigorishin started the International Swimming League in 2017 as a competitive swimming group with broadcasted international events. Races were only a few minutes apart, with multiple camera angles, LED lights, and music adding to the spectacle. In 2022, the league canceled its fourth season, due to Russia’s invasion in Ukraine and Grigorishin’s inability to fund future events. A billionaire with oil shipping assets, Grigorishin was personally sanctioned by Ukraine in 2025.

The trial continues Tuesday.