Swimming league wins antitrust verdict, gets whopping $1 in damages

(CN) — A jury on Friday awarded $1 in damages to a swimming league after finding that a separate swimming organization should be held liable for orchestrating a boycott against them.

A federal jury found that World Aquatics violated antitrust laws and disadvantaged the International Swimming League (ISL) through a boycott of its swimming events.

World Aquatics is a Swiss-based international swimming nonprofit that governs standards and rules for six professional water sports and consists of 210 national member federations. Formerly known as the Fédération Internationale de Natation (FINA), the group determines Olympic qualifiers and runs World Championships for swimming, water polo, artistic swimming, diving, high diving and open-water swimming.

ISL sued World Aquatics in 2018, accusing it of interfering with its ability to secure sponsorships. World Aquatics’ general rules prohibited the national federations it controlled — along with their swimmers — from working with “unauthorized or suspended bodies.”

After the lawsuit was filed, World Aquatics amended its rules to allow swimmers to participate in unsanctioned leagues and clubs.

ISL contended it was owed $40 million in damages for the opportunities it missed in 2018, which included a canceled event in Italy — but a jury opted to award just $1 in damages.

Even so, a spokesperson for ISL celebrated the jury verdict.

“The purpose of ISL bringing these proceedings against [World Aquatics] was to allow it to compete on an even playing field without unlawful interference and disruption,” a spokesperson said. “This outcome is not only a victory for ISL but also for swimming more broadly.”

ISL suspended its operations in 2021 but announced plans in December to relaunch.

“We want to thank our supporters and the wider swimming community for standing by us, and we look forward to seeing you all," the spokesperson said.

ISL accused the competing swimming organization of threatening to penalize swimmers with suspension and potential disqualification from the Olympics if they joined ISL or swam in its events.

World Aquatics earlier this month argued that ISL’s antitrust claim fell short because thousands of swimming events take place every year that are unaffiliated with and not approved by World Aquatics — and because the organization’s rules apply only to affiliated federations.

A eight-person jury sided with ISL. They found the group had proved that World Aquatics refused to deal with ISL pursuant to an agreement to boycott its swimming events and that the harm to ISL outweighed any competitive benefits.

World Aquatics also welcomed the jury’s decision, saying the award of $1 confirmed this was a short-lived dispute between the two swimming organizations and did not significantly damage ISL. World Aquatics said the low award also demonstrated that the litigation expenses could have been put to better use advancing swimming worldwide.

“This case has taken up resources that would have been much better utilized if they had been devoted to the sport and athletes,” World Aquatics President Husain Al Musallam said in a statement. “It was disappointing to learn during the trial that many athletes and service providers in the aquatics community remain unpaid by ISL, and we welcome ISL’s commitment to pay the $7 million it owes to swimmers before attempting to restart its league.”

Konstantin Grigorishin started the International Swimming League in 2017 as a competitive swimming group with broadcast 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 Russian-Ukrainian billionaire with assets in the oil-shipping industry, Grigorishin was personally sanctioned by Ukraine in 2025.