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Ruta Meilutyte Earns $100,000 In Prize Money in Just 2 Events (FULL Worlds Prize Money)

2023 WORLD AQUATICS CHAMPIONSHIPS

Thanks to SwimSwam stats guru Barry Revzin for calculating these totals.

In addition to the honor, the glory, and the medals given out this week in Fukuoka, over $5.6 million in prize money was up for grabs, with about half of that going to the top 8 finishers in the pool swimming events.

What’s more, a $30,000 bonus was given to each swimmer who tied or broke a World Record (divided equally among relay members in the case of relays). With a whopping 10 World Records broken, one of the best outputs we’ve ever seen at the World Aquatics Championships (outside of the supersuit era), those bonuses piled up quickly.

To wit, Lithuanian Ruta Meilutyte earned $100,000 at the meet, which made her the second-highest earner behind only individual and relay World Record holder Mollie O’Callaghan of Australia. The difference is that it took O’Callaghan six events to get there and Ruta only two.

The top-earning male swimmer was Qin Haiyang of China, who won three individual events, had gold and silver in relays, and broke a World Record. Leon Marchand of France, who won three golds and broke a World Record as well, was $2,600 behind him.

Affirming the expectation before the meet, that the women had more swimmers expected to rack up huge medal hauls, 8 of the top 10 money earners in the meet were women.

Editor’s Note: In most cases, new NCAA NIL rules still don’t allow amateur athletes to accept prize money. However, in most cases, countries have found the loopholes to those rules, so we expect most swimmers to be able to accept the prize money earned below. As always, though, this is a list of the prize money each athlete has earned, not necessarily what they were granted.

Assumptions:

  • Relay money is distributed equally between all prelims and finals members of a relay
  • World Record relay bonuses are distributed between the 4 swimmers on the actual record-setting relay (AQUA confirmed)
  • Any cents (usually caused by ties or 7-person relays) have been truncated.

Prize Money by Nation:

Rank Nation  Total Prize Money
1 United States  $      657,833
2 Australia  $      637,000
3 China  $      313,000
4 France  $      177,000
5 Great Britain  $      171,000
6 Canada  $      155,500
7 Italy  $      127,333
8 Lithuania  $      104,000
9 Sweden  $         93,000
10 Japan  $         70,500
11 Netherlands  $         67,333
12 Germany  $         57,000
13 Tunisia  $         55,000
14 Hungary  $         42,000
15 South Africa  $         41,000
16 Poland  $         28,000
17 Brazil  $         27,000
18 Korea  $         23,000
19 Hong Kong, China  $         21,000
20 New Zealand  $         19,000
21 Ireland  $         17,000
21 Switzerland  $         17,000
23 Portugal  $         15,000
24 Romania  $         10,000
24 Israel  $         10,000
26 Denmark  $           9,500
27 Spain  $           8,000
27 Egypt  $           8,000
29 Cayman Islands  $           7,000
29 Ukraine  $           7,000
29 Austria  $           7,000
29 Greece  $           7,000
33 Bosnia & Herzegovina  $           6,000
33 Estonia  $           6,000
35 Iceland  $           3,000
36 Slovenia  $           2,000
36 Chinese Taipei  $           2,000
36 Turkey  $           2,000

Individual Prize Money:

Rank Last Name First Name Nation gender  money
1 O’CALLAGHAN Mollie Australia F  $      103,690
2 MEILUTYTE Ruta Lithuania F  $      100,000
3 QIN Haiyang China M  $         95,000
4 MARCHAND Léon France M  $         92,400
5 TITMUS Ariarne Australia F  $         85,357
6 SJOESTROEM Sarah Sweden F  $         72,250
7 MCKEOWN Kaylee Australia F  $         64,286
8 MCINTOSH Summer Canada F  $         59,100
9 SMITH Regan United States F  $         57,500
9 LEDECKY Katie United States F  $         57,500
11 HAFNAOUI Ahmed Tunisia M  $         55,000
12 ZHANG Yufei China F  $         50,274
13 DOUGLASS Kate United States F  $         49,393
14 JACK Shayna Australia F  $         48,690
15 SHORT Samuel Australia M  $         45,000
16 CECCON Thomas Italy M  $         44,000
17 GROUSSET Maxime France M  $         41,200
18 MURPHY Ryan United States M  $         38,750
19 CHALMERS Kyle Australia M  $         37,690
20 ALEXY Jack United States M  $         36,310
21 SCHOENMAKER Tatjana South Africa F  $         35,000
22 ARMSTRONG Hunter United States M  $         32,500
23 LI Bingjie China F  $         31,667
24 RICHARDS Matthew Great Britain M  $         31,262
24 DEAN Tom Great Britain M  $         31,262
26 MCKEON Emma Australia F  $         31,119
27 KING Lilly United States F  $         29,500
28 FINK Nic United States M  $         29,083
29 FOSTER Carson United States M  $         26,143
30 FINKE Bobby United States M  $         25,000
31 STEENBERGEN Marrit Netherlands F  $         24,250
32 KOS Hubert Hungary M  $         23,000
33 HUSKE Torri United States F  $         21,250
34 HAUGHEY Siobhan Bernadette Hong Kong, China F  $         21,000
34 WALSH Alex United States F  $         21,000
34 QUADARELLA Simona Italy F  $         21,000
34 XU Jiayu China M  $         21,000
38 MÄRTENS Lukas Germany M  $         20,750
39 SCOTT Duncan Great Britain M  $         20,429
40 MCEVOY Cameron Australia M  $         20,000
41 MASSE Kylie Canada F  $         19,467
42 MACNEIL Margaret Canada F  $         19,067
43 THROSSELL Brianna Australia F  $         18,833
44 STUBBLETY-COOK Zac Australia M  $         18,810
45 BERKOFF Katharine United States F  $         18,750
46 WEITZEIL Abbey United States F  $         18,393
47 FORRESTER Jenna Australia F  $         18,000
48 LIENDO Josh Canada M  $         17,750
48 ROSE Dare United States M  $         17,750
50 WALSH Gretchen United States F  $         17,000
50 GRIMES Katie United States F  $         17,000
52 RESS Justin United States M  $         16,667
53 HARRIS Meg Australia F  $         15,833
54 MARTINENGHI Nicolò Italy M  $         15,333
55 PROUD Benjamin Great Britain M  $         15,000
55 DEKKERS Elizabeth Australia F  $         15,000
55 MATOS RIBEIRO Diogo Portugal M  $         15,000
55 CHMIELEWSKI Krzysztof Poland M  $         15,000
59 PALLISTER Lani Australia F  $         14,857
60 CARTWRIGHT Jack Australia M  $         14,357
61 SETO Daiya Japan M  $         14,000
62 TEMPLE Matthew Australia M  $         13,810
63 JACOBY Lydia United States F  $         12,500
64 SUN Jiajun China M  $         12,143
65 WIFFEN Daniel Ireland M  $         12,000
65 FAIRWEATHER Erika New Zealand F  $         12,000
65 GOSE Isabel Germany F  $         12,000
68 KAMMINGA Arno Netherlands M  $         11,833
69 WILM Ingrid Canada F  $         11,467
70 WILSON Madison Australia F  $         11,190
71 HWANG Sunwoo Korea M  $         11,000
72 SCHOUTEN Tes Netherlands F  $         10,750
73 SIMS Bella United States F  $         10,643
74 MITYUKOV Roman Switzerland M  $         10,000
74 FALLON Matt United States M  $         10,000
74 POPOVICI David Romania M  $         10,000
74 PENG Xuwei China F  $         10,000
74 COX Lauren Great Britain F  $         10,000
74 YU Yiting China F  $         10,000
74 HONDA Tomoru Japan M  $         10,000
74 MASIUK Ksawery Poland M  $         10,000
74 PILATO Benedetta Italy F  $         10,000
83 MATZERATH Lucas Germany M  $           9,900
84 WILLIAMSON Sam Australia M  $           9,810
85 COSTA Guilherme Brazil M  $           9,500
86 PAN Zhanle China M  $           9,343
87 CHENG Yujie China F  $           9,274
88 TOMAC Mewen France M  $           9,200
89 SHANAHAN Katie Great Britain F  $           9,000
89 YAN Zibei China M  $           9,000
91 MATHENY Josh United States M  $           8,750
92 SOUTHAM Flynn Australia M  $           8,524
93 COLEMAN Michelle Sweden F  $           8,250
94 PETERS Jacob Thomas Taylor Great Britain M  $           8,083
95 HEILMAN Thomas United States M  $           8,000
96 WOODWARD Bradley Australia M  $           7,810
97 TAYLOR Kai James Australia M  $           7,333
98 HOBSON Luke United States M  $           7,143
99 ANDERSON Freya Great Britain F  $           7,129
100 CROOKS Jordan Cayman Islands M  $           7,000
100 ROMANCHUK Mykhailo Ukraine M  $           7,000
102 HELD Ryan United States M  $           6,667
103 KORSTANJE Nyls Netherlands M  $           6,500
104 KING Matt United States M  $           6,310
105 COLBERT Freya Constance Great Britain F  $           6,200
105 NDOYE-BROUARD Yohann France M  $           6,200
107 COOPER Isaac Australia M  $           6,000
107 GONZALEZ Hugo Spain M  $           6,000
107 DONG Zhihao China M  $           6,000
107 KIM Woomin Korea M  $           6,000
107 KALISZ Chase United States M  $           6,000
107 PUDAR Lana Bosnia & Herzegovina F  $           6,000
107 KIRPICHNIKOVA Anastasiia France F  $           6,000
107 VAN NIEKERK Lara South Africa F  $           6,000
107 JEFIMOVA Eneli Estonia F  $           6,000
107 OSMAN Farida Egypt F  $           6,000
107 CASAS Shaine United States M  $           6,000
118 SUZUKI Satomi Japan F  $           5,800
119 WATANABE Ippei Japan M  $           5,750
120 KHARUN Ilya Canada M  $           5,500
121 HARRIS Medi Eira Great Britain F  $           5,450
122 KÖHLER Angelina Germany F  $           5,400
123 WU Qingfeng China F  $           5,274
124 HARKIN Abbey Australia F  $           5,143
124 SMITH Kieran United States M  $           5,143
126 IKEE Rikako Japan F  $           5,050
127 DEPLANO Leonardo Italy M  $           5,000
127 KOVÁCS Benedek Bendegúz Hungary M  $           5,000
127 CORBEAU Caspar Netherlands M  $           5,000
127 MATSUMOTO Katsuhiro Japan M  $           5,000
127 SMITH Brendon Australia M  $           5,000
127 BLOMSTERBERG Thea Denmark F  $           5,000
127 GORBENKO Anastasia Israel F  $           5,000
127 LEE Hojoon Korea M  $           5,000
127 JUNEVIK Sara Sweden F  $           5,000
127 BOTTAZZO Anita Italy F  $           5,000
127 MC SHARRY Mona Ireland F  $           5,000
138 GUY James Great Britain M  $           4,833
139 TANG Qianting China F  $           4,750
140 WINNINGTON Elijah Australia M  $           4,667
141 SMOLIGA Olivia United States F  $           4,643
142 MAHIEU Pauline France F  $           4,500
142 WATTEL Marie France F  $           4,500
142 BACH Helena Rosendahl Denmark F  $           4,500
142 MITSUI Airi Japan F  $           4,500
146 HANSSON Sophie Sweden F  $           4,250
147 HOPKIN Anna Great Britain F  $           4,179
148 HOPE Lucy Great Britain F  $           4,129
149 HARVEY Mary-Sophie Canada F  $           4,100
150 RASOVSZKY Kristof Hungary M  $           4,000
150 DJAKOVIC Antonio Switzerland M  $           4,000
150 AUBOECK Felix Austria M  $           4,000
150 CLAREBURT Lewis New Zealand M  $           4,000
150 WHITE Rhyan United States F  $           4,000
150 TETEREVKOVA Kotryna Lithuania F  $           4,000
150 OHASHI Yui Japan F  $           4,000
150 FRANCESCHI Sara Italy F  $           4,000
150 COX Jillian United States F  $           4,000
150 MIRESSI Alessandro Italy M  $           4,000
150 FRIGO Manuel Italy M  $           4,000
150 LITCHFIELD Joe Richard Great Britain M  $           4,000
150 CHRISTOU Apostolos Greece M  $           4,000
163 GUILIANO Chris United States M  $           3,810
164 WANG Xueer China F  $           3,750
165 YANG Junxuan China F  $           3,667
165 LIU Yaxin China F  $           3,667
167 WANG Yichun China F  $           3,607
168 GAZIEV Ruslan Canada M  $           3,550
169 WANG Haoyu China M  $           3,343
169 WANG Changhao China M  $           3,343
171 AI Yanhan China F  $           3,333
172 GKOLOMEEV Kristian Greece M  $           3,000
172 MCKEE Anton Iceland M  $           3,000
172 PONTI Noè Switzerland M  $           3,000
172 RAZZETTI Alberto Italy M  $           3,000
172 GOMES JUNIOR Joao Brazil M  $           3,000
172 BERNAT Laura Poland F  $           3,000
172 STEPHENS Laura Great Britain F  $           3,000
172 DIZOTTI Beatriz Brazil F  $           3,000
172 ZAZZERI Lorenzo Italy M  $           3,000
172 BUCHER Simon Austria M  $           3,000
172 MARTON Richard Hungary M  $           3,000
172 JEFFCOAT Andrew New Zealand M  $           3,000
184 BRAUNSCHWEIG Ole Germany M  $           2,900
185 MELVERTON Kiah Australia F  $           2,857
186 COHEN GROUMI Gal Israel M  $           2,750
186 WAN Letian China F  $           2,750
186 ACEVEDO Javier Canada M  $           2,750
189 WOOD Abbie Great Britain F  $           2,700
190 PARKER Maxine United States F  $           2,500
190 GEMMELL Erin United States F  $           2,500
190 SMITH Leah United States F  $           2,500
190 SHACKELL Alex United States F  $           2,500
190 PEPLOWSKI Anna United States F  $           2,500
195 SALVAN Hadrien France M  $           2,400
196 HANSSON Louise Sweden F  $           2,250
197 MC FADDEN Henry United States M  $           2,143
197 KIBLER Drew United States M  $           2,143
197 NELSON Baylor United States M  $           2,143
197 MITCHELL Jake United States M  $           2,143
201 WILBY James Great Britain M  $           2,083
202 YANAGAWA Daiki Japan M  $           2,000
202 NÉMETH Nándor Hungary M  $           2,000
202 AUBRY David France M  $           2,000
202 PALTRINIERI Gregorio Italy M  $           2,000
202 HOLLO Balazs Hungary M  $           2,000
202 STEVENS Peter Slovenia M  $           2,000
202 PIGREE Analia France F  $           2,000
202 WOG Kelsey Lauren Canada F  $           2,000
202 YE Shiwen China F  $           2,000
202 NARITA Mio Japan F  $           2,000
202 LOONEY Lindsay United States F  $           2,000
202 SOUZA Felipe Brazil M  $           2,000
202 SANTOS Guilherme Brazil M  $           2,000
202 SAMEH Abdelrahman Egypt M  $           2,000
202 WANG Kuan-Hung Chinese Taipei M  $           2,000
202 OGRETIR Berkay Turkey M  $           2,000
202 HENIQUE Melanie France F  $           2,000
202 OGATA So Japan M  $           2,000
220 IRIE Ryosuke Japan M  $           1,750
220 BUSCH Kim Netherlands F  $           1,750
222 LASCO Destin United States M  $           1,667
222 NEILL Thomas Australia M  $           1,667
222 GRAHAM Alexander Australia M  $           1,667
222 ZHU Menghui China F  $           1,667
222 ANGUS Sophie Canada F  $           1,667
222 GE Chutong China F  $           1,667
222 YANG Peiqi China F  $           1,667
222 LI Jiaping China F  $           1,667
230 RUCK Taylor Canada F  $           1,600
231 DERGOUSOFF James Canada M  $           1,550
231 SOMA Ai Japan F  $           1,550
233 BALDUCCINI Stephanie Brazil F  $           1,500
233 DE WAARD Maaike Netherlands F  $           1,500
235 SAVARD Katerine Canada F  $           1,433
236 WHITTLE Jacob Henry Great Britain M  $           1,429
237 SHIRAI Rio Japan F  $           1,300
238 SALCHOW Josha Germany M  $           1,250
238 DE TULLIO Marco Italy M  $           1,250
238 MEGLI Filippo Italy M  $           1,250
238 CIAMPI Matteo Italy M  $           1,250
238 DI COLA Stefano Italy M  $           1,250
238 MIROSLAW Rafael Germany M  $           1,250
238 JINNO Yume Japan F  $           1,250
238 IKEMOTO Nagisa Japan F  $           1,250
246 CHEN Juner China M  $           1,200
246 YANG Jintong China M  $           1,200
246 TESIC Enzo France M  $           1,200
246 FUCHS Roman France M  $           1,200
246 YEBBA Wissam-Amazigh France M  $           1,200
251 FULLUM-HUOT Edouard Canada M  $           1,000
251 KNOX Finlay Canada M  $           1,000
251 ALCARÁ Victor Brazil M  $           1,000
251 CHIERIGHINI Marcelo Brazil M  $           1,000
251 MIZUNUMA Naoki Japan M  $           1,000
251 YANG Jaehoon Korea M  $           1,000
251 AASTEDT Sofia Sweden F  $           1,000
251 VAN NUNEN Sam Netherlands F  $           1,000
251 VAN WIJK Milou Netherlands F  $           1,000
251 DE JONG Imani Netherlands F  $           1,000
251 VAN KOOTEN Janna Netherlands F  $           1,000
251 HOLKENBORG Silke Netherlands F  $           1,000
251 COCCONCELLI Costanza Italy F  $           1,000
251 MORINI Sofia Italy F  $           1,000
251 VIEIRA Ana Carolina Brazil F  $           1,000
266 SCHULZE Nele Germany F  $              900
267 MORGAN Oliver Great Britain M  $              833
267 O’CROININ Emma Canada F  $              833
267 JANSEN Ella Christina Canada F  $              833
267 DOUTHWRIGHT Brooklyn Canada F  $              833
271 AOKI Reona Japan F  $              800
272 LOKTEV Denis Israel M  $              750
272 FRANKEL Tomer Israel M  $              750
272 POLONSKY Ron Israel M  $              750
272 SORGIUS Timo Germany M  $              750
272 YANG Chang China F  $              750
272 TOUSSAINT Kira Netherlands F  $              750
272 PÁDÁR Nikolett Hungary F  $              750
272 ABRAHAM Lilla Minna Hungary F  $              750
272 MOLNÁR Dóra Hungary F  $              750
272 KESELY Ajna Hungary F  $              750
272 GOMI Tomonobu Japan M  $              750
272 NAKAMURA Katsumi Japan M  $              750
284 DE CELIS MONTALBAN Sergio Spain M  $              500
284 CASTRO César Spain M  $              500
284 DOMINGUEZ Luis Spain M  $              500
284 MOLLA YANES Mario Spain M  $              500
284 FRIESE Jan Eric Germany M  $              500
284 SCHEFFER Fernando Brazil M  $              500
284 SETIN SARTORI Murilo Brazil M  $              500
284 MELO Luiz Altamir Brazil M  $              500
284 BONNET Charlotte France F  $              500
284 NOWACZYK Lison France F  $              500
284 SIQUEIRA ALMEIDA Nathalia Brazil F  $              500
284 RONCATTO Gabrielle Brazil F  $              500
284 DE OLIVEIRA DA SILVA COSTA Maria Fernanda Brazil F  $              500
284 VARJASI Peter Germany M  $              500
284 HOLT Nina Germany F  $              500
299 FINGER Lisa-Marie Germany F  $              400

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Gulliver’s Swimming Travels
1 year ago

So are David Johnston and Charlie Swanson the only members of the U.S. team to take home no prize money?

Swimfan27
1 year ago

The dream

Swimz14
1 year ago

Where is Ruta training these days?

Tracy Kosinski
1 year ago

Best Worlds ever. Lots of nice surprises!

MTK
1 year ago

Her comeback is an amazing story.

Ruta being one of the 5-10 biggest stars in the pool this week was something that nobody here could’ve predicted 18 months ago.

Jonathan
1 year ago

Now I’m really curious how much money do top American swimmers like Katie Ledecky, Regan Smith, Lilly King, Ryan Murphy, and Bobby Finke make in non-olympic years between prize money and sponsorship deals.

Dan
Reply to  Jonathan
1 year ago

I think it was REALLY good money for Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte, but that would have to be up to someone with the exact figures to post.

Hah
1 year ago

What happens to High Schoolers and College Swimmers. Do they still get the prize money?

JVW
Reply to  Hah
1 year ago

I think the rule is that they are allowed to take the prize money, they just can’t accept appearance fees. So for example, a meet promoter can’t promise Leon Marchand $100,000 just for showing up and swimming at the meet, though he is eligible for whatever prize money he wins, as long as the prize money is the same for all events and all competitors.

JVW
Reply to  JVW
1 year ago

But perhaps that has changed since Jeremy Bloom was suing the NCAA over this issue.

elizabeth
1 year ago

Swimmers deserve to have higher rewards money! Swimming is the hardest sport, but the payoff is the lowest of all sports.

Explosions in the Sky
Reply to  elizabeth
1 year ago

Except that swimmers only “perform” on the playing field for a few minutes (or in some cases, seconds), whereas sports like tennis and soccer require hours of participation from each athlete over the course of a tournament.

Monty
Reply to  Explosions in the Sky
1 year ago

So you are saying Usain Bolt is waaaay overpaid? Kind of a silly statement that athletes should be paid for amount of time competing. Pretty sure that in most individual sports, the shorter the race, the more prestigious and lucrative.

About Braden Keith

Braden Keith

Braden Keith is the Editor-in-Chief and a co-founder/co-owner of SwimSwam.com. He first got his feet wet by building The Swimmers' Circle beginning in January 2010, and now comes to SwimSwam to use that experience and help build a new leader in the sport of swimming. Aside from his life on the InterWet, …

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