The Swimming World Cup marks the first opportunity to see the sports’ biggest stars compete on the global stage this season, and for many this will be the first major competition since the World Championships took place in Singapore over the 2025 summer. But with a new season and new global competition there comes new questions. Here are some of the key questions and talking points to look out for when racing gets underway over the weekend.

What is the Swimming World Cup Format?

The Swimming World Cup takes place over 3 legs, all taking place in North America, each with 3 days of racing with a week break in between each stop. The first stop is in Carmel Indiana, with racing taking place on the 10^th 11^th and 12^th of October. The second stop is in Westmont Chicago, with the 3^rd and final stop taking place in Toronto Canada.

While the World Championships and Olympics are held in a long course 50 metre pool the World Cup is held in a short course 25 metre pool, making the racing faster, more intense and more exciting. A bigger emphasis is placed on turns and underwater phases which can lead to some interesting race strategies and surprise winners. Heats take place in the morning followed by finals in the evening. There are no semi-finals meaning swimmers have to be on the pace right from the start to make the finals.

World Aquatics will be crowning a winner for each stop of the World Cup and also an overall winner across the 3 stops for both men and women. The scoring for this is determined by placing in the finals, with 10 points awarded to the winner and 1 point awarded to the 8^th placed finalist, and also by how close swimmers can get to the respective World Record in the event, with the World Record being worth 10 points. It is possible to score more than 10 points by breaking the World Record. These 2 scores are then added together to give a swimmer’s overall score. Swimmers can enter as many events as they like but only their best 3 results count towards the standings for each leg and the overall World Cup winner.

What is the Prize Money?

The World Cup provides swimmers with ample opportunities to rack up prize money with various scoring systems and multiple achievements that come with prize money. World Records come with a $10,000 prize each time a record is broken. There are pay-outs for finishing in the top 20 at each round of the World Cup, with 20^th place earning $4,000, working up the first placed male and female swimmer at that round winning $12,000. But the big money comes for the overall series rankings across the 3 rounds. The top 8 male and female swimmers will win prize money starting at $10,000 working all the way up to the top male and female swimmer across the 3 stops who will take home $100,000 each.

There is also a unique incentive to watch out for that comes with the 3-round format at the World Cup. If a swimmer wins the same event at all 3 rounds they win the Triple Crown and another bonus of $10,000. However, if the swimmer wins the same event at the first 2 rounds and is chasing the Triple Crown but is beaten in the 3^rd round by another swimmer there is a “Crown Buster” bonus of $2,500. This creates another level of drama and pressure for swimmers chasing wins in their events.

Who is Competing and in what Events?

There are a number of high-profile swimmers taking part in this World Cup. Perhaps the 2 biggest surprises are former Olympic Champions Adam Peaty and Chad Le Clos. Both of these swimmers are a surprise confirmation given their time out of the water after the Paris Olympics in 2024, but also in the case of Peaty who typically chose not to take part in the World Cup. It will be interesting to see how these guys perform after their breaks from the water, but with their records and medals in their events they cannot be ruled out.

Other notable swimmers include Americans Gretchen Walsh and Kate Douglass, who could be contenders for the overall champions, Regan Smith and Kylee McKeown who will be competing for the backstroke events. Summer Mcintosh had been scheduled to swim at all 3 legs but has had to pull out of the first leg in Indiana due to illness. This will make it harder for her to win the overall crown which she was one of the favourites for but she should not be written out of contention. Kate Douglass and Regan Smith comfortably finished 1^st and 2^nd overall at last years World Cup and will be strong contenders again this year.

On the men’s side there are many notable swimmers confirmed including Noe Ponti who is likely to compete for the overall series winner, along with Thomas Ceccon and Hubert Kos who will compete for the backstroke events, and Josh Liendo. Another notable swimmer is Leon Marchand. Marchand will only swim at the first leg in Indiana so is unlikely to win the overall title but could be in contention for the stop winner swimming 7 events. Including a big focus on the freestyle events along with his traditional medley, breaststroke and butterfly. Marchand won the overall title in 2024 so will be strong contender for the title at the Indiana stop but it does present an opportunity for someone else to win the overall title.

One final event to consider is the 100 individual medley. This event can only be swum in short course meters so it is rarely contested but when it is, it is a fascinating event to watch as lots of swimmers race it and with differing strengths and weaknesses the winner can come from anywhere. Marchand won this event at all 3 stops in 2024 but with him only swimming one leg this year the door is open for another challenger.

These are just some of the talking points and names to look out for at the first round of the Swimming World Cup. It will be interesting to see how the results progress not just in round one but in round two and three. There will be a lot of fast swimming and exciting storylines to look out for.