Swimmers Settle Bulk of Suit Against World Aquatics Over New League

Professional swimmers Thomas Shields and Katinka Hosszú reached a settlement ending their claims against World Aquatics, the global governing body for the sport, for orchestrating an alleged boycott of the upstart International Swimming League. The antitrust trial for prohibiting swimmers for events not sanctioned by World Aquatics is still set for January 2026.

In a five-page status report filed to the Northern District of California on Wednesday, the swimmers had a mediation session in June and are working on finalizing the agreement.

Jeff Kessler, the sports antitrust lawyer who recently secured a multibillion-dollar settlement from the NCAA, is representing the swimmers.

“We are very pleased to have achieved a very favorable settlement for the class of swimmers,” he told Front Office Sports and other outlets in a statement. He said the settlement “will provide both past damages and future injunctive relief to prevent World Aquatics from having rules to interfere with the ability of the swimmers or national federations to participate in swimming events not sanctioned by World Aquatics… World Aquatics has new leadership and they did the right thing in agreeing to a new path that will benefit swimmers, the national federations and  the many fans of  the sport.“

In a separate status report filed Wednesday, the ISL said it will prepare the case scheduling at a conference next week. 

The original lawsuit filed in 2018 alleged that FINA, now World Aquatics, violated antitrust laws by preventing swimmers from competing in events not sanctioned by the organization. FINA is accused of threatening to suspend swimmers which could prevent them from participating in the Olympics and World Championship.

In the suit, it alleges the 2018 Energy for Swim meet in Turin, Italy, was cancelled due to the rules set in place by FINA. The rules were changed in 2019 after the suit was filed, and the swimmers claim they were denied at least $3.3 million in appearance fees and prize money across cancelled events.

The ISL has been in hiatus since 2022, due to the Russia-Ukraine war trapping millions in funding from an investor. It’s also been entrenched in other lawsuits as well, suing its own former lawyer for more than $7 million on account professional negligence, breach of fiduciary duty, breach of implied contract, and unfair business practices case against World Aquatics.

Despite a U.S. judge ruling in favor of World Aquatics in 2023, the case was brought back in September by the Ninth Circuit saying that World Aquatics’ actions warranted an organized boycott.

The case management conference is scheduled for next Wednesday.