FINA-ISL dispute At the start of the
2018 season, the only major annual swimming tournament sanctioned by
FINA was
FINA Swimming World Cup. International Swimming League, a team-based professional swimming series, was founded in 2017 by Russian-
Ukrainian billionaire
Konstantin Grigorishin. ISL planned to hold an inaugural event in
Turin, Italy, in December, 2018. In June, 2018, FINA sent a letter to all 209 federations, urging them not to cooperate with ISL. After clarifying the interpretation of a rule included in section 4.5 of FINA general rules, FINA stated that the
Energy for Swim meet was now classified as an international event for that season, given that "a competition which is conceptually designed to have a majority of foreign participants is not a national competition", and thus it needed to be approved within the ordinary six-month window. Since the approval window was already expired, the athletes participating in that meet would have been disqualified from one to two years by FINA and any world records set during the event would not have been recognized. The negotiations between the parties officially broke down on 15 November 2018 after athletes decided that it would not be worth swimming at FINA sectioned meets if FINA was barring athletes from competing in the ISL. Eventually leading to
Energy for Swim meet cancellation. In January 2026, a jury in the United States found in favor of the International Swimming League in its antitrust case against World Aquatics (formerly known as FINA).
Debut Despite negotiations failure between FINA, ISL and Energy Standard Group – that would have organized
Energy for Swim meet along with
FIN – several athletes sustained the new idea of a team-based swimming competition (among which
Katinka Hosszú and
Adam Peaty). FINA announced in December 2018 the creation of a brand new league, called
FINA Champions Swim Series. The first ISL team to be officially announced was German side
ONEFlow Aquatics (which would not have taken part to the inaugural season, eventually) in January 2019, after which ISL announced also the remaining three European teams and the four American teams in the following months. Meanwhile, ISL also presented a newly formed representation company –
ISL USA – which would have staged the semi-finals and Final Match, at
Mandalay Bay in
Las Vegas, and assisted the new US clubs in their operations (including scouting talent, signing athletes and running their own swimming meets). A crucial step towards the creation of ISL was made when FINA announced that athletes taking part in Non-FINA sanctioned events would not have been banned and that similar competitions would be allowed, also confirming that all the world records set in the first two stages would not have been considered (because of clashing with
World Cup events). In June 2019, ISL released the schedule of the league inaugural season, which officially started on the first week of the following October.
Athlete bans From the beginning of the International Swimming League, the administrators established a policy of not allowing athletes with anti-doping rules violations or ethics violations to compete. For athlete bans due to anti-doping rules violations, the ISL relies on test results from the
World Anti-Doping Agency to implement the bans. In March 2022, the ISL approved the ban of all Russian swimmers and staff from the
Energy Standard swim club as a way of punishing Russians in response to the
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and demonstrating its support for Ukraine.
Non-payment boycotts In October 2021, following the repeated non-payment of multiple contractors, staff, and athletes, a number of athletes proposed boycotting the
2021 ISL playoffs. Leading up to the 2021 playoffs, the League's breaking of their contractual obligation to pay their workers and performers dated back at least to the
2020 ISL season, where multiple athletes were not paid for the entire season. In addition to non-payment of athletes and other workers, the ISL had already established a history of non-payment with competition venues, suppliers, and vendors across various locations, including the United Kingdom,
Switzerland, and
Hungary, that dated back to
season one in 2019.
Invasion of Ukraine and cancellation With the vast majority of the ISL's $20 million annual funding coming from Ukrainian billionaire and businessman
Konstantin Grigorishin, the
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine has caused the league to struggle even further in its finances. On 28 February, just days after the Russian invasion began, the ISL failed to pay its athletes due to being unable to remove funds from within Ukraine. On 27 March 2022, the ISL released a statement with the decision to cancel its 4th season of 2022, slated to start in July with a planned 24 competitions and $13 million prize pool for athletes. The statement makes no mention of funding, though explicitly states support for the Ukrainian effort.
College Swimming League In December 2025, the International Swimming League (ISL) backed the establishment of the
College Swimming League (CSL), a new team-based collegiate competition in the United States that adopts an ISL-style match format. The CSL is scheduled to begin in the fall of 2026 with NCAA programs competing in head-to-head meets, and is intended to increase the commercial visibility of college swimming while creating a potential pathway toward professional competition.
Relaunch planning (2025–) In December 2025, ISL leadership confirmed that the league is preparing to resume competition in 2026. The league plans to operate under a reshaped commercial model, expanding sponsorship and media partnerships and staging events across multiple regions including North America, Europe and Asia. Commissioner Ben Allen described autumn 2026 as the “ideal scenario” for a relaunch, with 2027 identified as an alternative target if required. == Format ==