International Swimming League to resume with London meet in December

The International Swimming League (ISL) 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