Aug 26 (Reuters) – The International Swimming League will return from a five-year hiatus with a one-night All-Star Match at the London Aquatics Centre on December 19, the league said on Wednesday, taking a first step toward its planned full relaunch.
The team-based event will feature some of the world’s leading swimmers competing for a record purse, with details to come later, the league said. Past ISL events have featured American Caeleb Dressel, Britain’s Adam Peaty and Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu.
The announcement gives concrete shape to plans outlined by ISL Commissioner Ben Allen last year, when he told Reuters the league hoped to restart in the autumn of 2026 under a revised commercial model less dependent on a single investor and more reliant on sponsorship and media partnerships.
The ISL, launched in 2019 to provide a season-long professional competition outside the Olympic cycle, last staged a season in 2021.
Its operations were halted after the COVID-19 pandemic and the effects of Russia’s war in Ukraine on its principal backer, Ukrainian businessman Konstantin Grigorishin.
Allen said in December that the league had initially envisaged a seven-match comeback season across North America and Europe, including at least one event in Asia and possibly another in the Middle East. The ISL had also been considering a one-day format after previously holding competition across two days.
In July, the league announced it would pay about 300 athletes overdue prize money owed from its 2021 season.
Wednesday’s announcement suggests that the London event will serve as a trial of that condensed approach before a wider return.
“The All-Star Match is the moment swimming has been waiting for: the world’s best athletes, back on the ISL stage,” Allen said in a statement.
“London is the perfect host city, with a venue built for nights like this and in front of one of the world’s great sporting audiences.”
The Aquatics Centre, built for the 2012 London Olympics, has since hosted major international swimming events.
The ISL said it would later announce the swimmers taking part, the match format, ticketing details and broadcast arrangements.
(Reporting by Rory CarrollEditing by Toby Davis)
