PRO SWIM SERIES – KNOXVILLE
- January 11-14, 2023
- Knoxville, Tennessee
- LCM (50 meters)
- Prelims/Finals
- Prelims: 9:00 AM (EST)
- Finals: 6:00 PM (EST), Day 1 4:00 PM
- Meet Central
- Live Results
17-year old Katie Grimes won 3 events and had a whopping 6 podium finishes at this weekend’s Pro Swim Series stop in Knoxville, Tennessee to lead all swimmers with $6,500 in earnings.
Grimes led a group of 4 women who were among the top 5 earners at the meet, as the top women generally swam, and earned podium finishes in, more events than the men.
Prize money was reinstated for latter part of the 2022 Pro Swim Series and that continued into the 2023 season, which kicked off this week. Each meet in 2023 will offer $102,000 in prize money divided among the top three finishers in each event.
2023 Prize Money Breakdown:
- 1st – $1,500
- 2nd – $1,000
- 3rd – $500
2023 will see four stops on the Pro Swim Series, which adds up to a total of $408,000 in prize money available. The prize money, as compared to prior iterations, is pretty straightforward: there are no series-long points or annual prizes to worry about. If a swimmer finishes in the top 3 in any event (Olympic or otherwise), they earn money.
A total of 53 different athletes earned at least $500 this weekend.
While the series does seem to be getting back on track to pre-pandemic levels with regards to participation, it’s not clear the prize money is a big motivator. The pro group from Cal left before the final session of the meet, where Ryan Murphy was a big favorite in the 200 back and Abbey Weitzeil was a big favorite in the 100 free.
That means at least $3,000 was left on the table – a meaningful amount of money for many athletes, and definitely enough to cover costs of an extra night in a Knoxville hotel.
While high school and college swimmers are generally limited to accepting money up to “actual and necessary expenses,” even under new NIL rules, there are plenty of loopholes that allow them to accept more prize money than that. We will never know for sure who actually receives what prize money, but most of the money listed below will wind up with the athletes who earned it.
Knoxville 2023 Prize Money:
| Rank | Swimmer | Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Total |
| 1 | Katie Grimes | Sandpipers | $4,500 | $1,000 | $1,000 | $6,500 |
| 2 | Katie Ledecky | Florida (pro) | $4,500 | $1,000 | $0 | $5,500 |
| 3 | Mona McSharry | Tennessee | $4,500 | $0 | $0 | $4,500 |
| 3 | Kylie Masse | Canada | $4,500 | $0 | $0 | $4,500 |
| 3 | Bobby Finke | Florida (pro) | $3,000 | $1,000 | $500 | $4,500 |
| 3 | Bella Sims | Sandpipers | $0 | $4,000 | $500 | $4,500 |
| 7 | Ahmed Hafnaoui | Indiana | $3,000 | $1,000 | $0 | $4,000 |
| 8 | Kieran Smith | Florida (pro) | $0 | $3,000 | $500 | $3,500 |
| 9 | Lyubomir Epitropov | Tennessee/Bulgaria | $3,000 | $0 | $0 | $3,000 |
| 9 | Abbey Weitzeil | Cal (pro) | $3,000 | $0 | $0 | $3,000 |
| 11 | Hunter Armstrong | Cal (pro) | $1,500 | $1,000 | $0 | $2,500 |
| 11 | Chase Kalisz | Arizona State (pro) | $1,500 | $1,000 | $0 | $2,500 |
| 11 | Erika Brown | Tennessee (pro) | $1,500 | $1,000 | $0 | $2,500 |
| 11 | Daniel Diehl | Cumberland YMCA | $1,500 | $0 | $1,000 | $2,500 |
| 11 | Olivia Smoliga | Arizona State (pro) | $0 | $2,000 | $500 | $2,500 |
| 16 | Ella Jansen | Canada | $1,500 | $0 | $500 | $2,000 |
| 16 | Leah Smith | Texas (pro) | $1,500 | $0 | $500 | $2,000 |
| 16 | Miranda Tucker | Texas Ford Aquatics (pro) | $0 | $2,000 | $0 | $2,000 |
| 16 | Tommy Cope | Indiana (pro) | $0 | $2,000 | $0 | $2,000 |
| 20 | Ryan Murphy | Cal (pro) | $0 | $1,750 | $0 | $1,750 |
| 21 | Henry McFadden | Jersey Wahoos | $1,500 | $0 | $0 | $1,500 |
| 21 | Justin Ress | NC State (pro) | $1,500 | $0 | $0 | $1,500 |
| 21 | Luke Miller | NC State | $1,500 | $0 | $0 | $1,500 |
| 21 | David Curtiss | NC State | $1,500 | $0 | $0 | $1,500 |
| 21 | Ryan Held | Arizona State (pro) | $1,500 | $0 | $0 | $1,500 |
| 21 | Finlay Knox | Canada | $1,500 | $0 | $0 | $1,500 |
| 21 | Michael Houlie | Tennessee/South Africa | $1,500 | $0 | $0 | $1,500 |
| 21 | Andrej Barna | Louisville (pro)/Serbia | $1,500 | $0 | $0 | $1,500 |
| 21 | Claire Weinstein | Sandpipers | $0 | $1,000 | $500 | $1,500 |
| 21 | Gabriel Jett | Cal | $0 | $1,000 | $500 | $1,500 |
| 21 | Katharine Berkoff | NC State | $0 | $1,000 | $500 | $1,500 |
| 21 | Miguel de Lara | Mexico | $0 | $1,000 | $500 | $1,500 |
| 21 | Clement Secchi | Missouri/France | $0 | $1,000 | $500 | $1,500 |
| 21 | Gui Caribe | Tennessee/Brazil | $0 | $1,000 | $500 | $1,500 |
| 21 | Sophie Angus | Canada | $0 | $0 | $1,500 | $1,500 |
| 36 | Trenton Julian | Rose Bowl Aquatics (pro) | $0 | $750 | $500 | $1,250 |
| 37 | Jay Litherland | Arizona State (pro) | $0 | $1,000 | $0 | $1,000 |
| 37 | Lainey Mullins | Suburban Swim Club | $0 | $1,000 | $0 | $1,000 |
| 37 | Bjorn Seeliger | Cal | $0 | $1,000 | $0 | $1,000 |
| 37 | Alexis Yager | Tennessee (pro) | $0 | $1,000 | $0 | $1,000 |
| 37 | Charlotte Crush | Lakeside Swim Team (Kentucky( | $0 | $1,000 | $0 | $1,000 |
| 37 | Josephine Fuller | Tennessee | $0 | $1,000 | $0 | $1,000 |
| 37 | Brandon Fischer | Liver | $0 | $0 | $1,000 | $1,000 |
| 37 | Simone Manuel | Tri-Valley Aquatics | $0 | $0 | $1,000 | $1,000 |
| 45 | Charlie Clark | Ohio State | $0 | $0 | $500 | $500 |
| 45 | Erin Gemmell | NCAP | $0 | $0 | $500 | $500 |
| 45 | Sara Stotler | Tennessee | $0 | $0 | $500 | $500 |
| 45 | Nicolas Albiero | Louisville (pro) | $0 | $0 | $500 | $500 |
| 45 | Jack Alexy | Cal | $0 | $0 | $500 | $500 |
| 45 | Marina Spadoni | Unattached | $0 | $0 | $500 | $500 |
| 45 | Michael Brinegar | Ohio State (pro) | $0 | $0 | $500 | $500 |
| 45 | Tess Cieplucha | Canada | $0 | $0 | $500 | $500 |
| 45 | Javier Acevedo | Canada | $0 | $0 | $500 | $500 |
How did Ryan Murphy earn 1,750 if he got second place twice. Are there variations to the 1500, 1000, 500 dollar breakdown?
He had a tie for 2nd place.
Meet info doesn’t say, but I assumed $750 each.