International Swimming League Solidarity Camp Heading For Australian Gold Coast, Swimmers Told

Alessandro Gallo, of Il Resto del Carlino newspaper, reports Orsi and Odaldi “at the end of October, will fly to Australia, to the Gold Coast to participate, as protagonists, in the only international competition of a sports year, 2020, blown up by Covid-19 and the fear of contagion”.

Swimmer and coach are reported to have spoke in tandem when cited as saying:

“Konstantin Grigorishin is a Ukrainian tycoon with a passion for swimming. So he decided to create a real ‘Champions Cup’ under the name of Isl2, or International Swimming League2 “.

They confirm that they have been told to prepare for camp in Australia from late October through November. The date has not yet been specified for obvious reasons: the course of the pandemic and the shifting protocols and changing dimensions of the spread of a virus not yet done with the world.

International Swimming League Solidarity Camp – Lifeline for 2021

Adam Peaty, the Olympic 100m breaststroke champion, said of the Solidarity Camp: “It’s an uncertain time for us all at the moment so this much welcomed financial grant will assist swimmers as everyone prepares for 2021.”

His support for the league in the face of FINA resistance has served as a powerful catalyst for change alongside the voices of world-class peers such as Hosszu, Tom Shields, Michael Andrew, Cate Campbell, Chad le Clos, Sarah Sjostrom, Federica Pellegrini, Katie Ledecky, Florent Manaudou and many others. The participation in the League of all of those and the likes of Caeleb Dressel, Ranomi Kromowidjojo and a wave of other pace-setters of the pool made the 2019 League season a huge turning point in swimming history.

Peaty described the ISL’s financial lifeline for swimmers as “huge for the sport”, one that had “not changed much in decades and still has the same formats and focus as it had back in the 1970s”, said the World record holder.

The ISL Solidarity Programme will pay a minimum of $1500 a month to more than 300 athletes from September 2020 until July 2021, taking swimmers all the way through to the Olympic Games next year.

Grigorishin explained his motivation for the Camp when he said:

“After the postponement of the Olympics some swimmers came to us and said they would now probably retire because they could not afford another year, so this is why we decided to take action. We aren’t talking about the wages of soccer or basketball players but for these swimmers we hope it will make a real difference and allow them to continue in the sport.”