International Swimming League Planning Return in 2026
The International Swimming League is planning a relaunch in 2026, it said in an exclusive interview with Reuters.
The league is working with a “reshaped commercial model” that it hopes will capitalize on the momentum being built toward the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. The plan is for a seven-match season in global locations in the fall of 2026.
Officially, it’s a three-year hiatus for the ISL, though it’s last season was in 2021. It did three seasons, starting in 2019, of match-style, short-course meters racing of teams based across the world. It included global superstars and worked through the COVID-19 pandemic, with seasons in 2020 and 2021.
But its ultimate demise after the 2021 season was forced by the effects of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, which affected its principal backer, Ukrainian Konstantin Grigorishin.
“ISL is coming back,” Commissioner Ben Allen told Reuters. “And we’re really excited about the prospect of a relaunch.”
The ISL is looking at an autumn 2026 return, with 2027 as a fallback. It’s new model seeks to reduce reliance on a single investor, leaning heavily on sponsorships and media partners.
Allen’s plan is to have a seven-match schedule in North America and Europe, with at least one stop in Asia. It will emphasize the American market. Among the plans is a one-day format instead of the two in previous incarnations. Certain elements of the production, such as poolside staging, graphics and minimal downtime during the meet, will be retained.
The emphasis, Allen said, is to keep swimmers visible at different portions of the Olympic cycle. A new incarnation of the ISL would have to plan around the 2027 World Aquatics direct qualifiers for stroke 50s for the 2028 Olympics. World Aquatics will run its World Cup tour through Asia in October of 2026, and those two entities have just settled years of legal enmity.