LEN Swimming Cup, Leg 1, Luxembourg, 24-26 January – Preview

100.000 Euros are up for grabs

LEN is delighted to announce the start of the second season of the LEN Swimming Cup with a new format and 100.000 Euros in overall prize money. The first leg is due this weekend in Luxembourg, followed by other long-established meets, the Swim Cup in Eindhoven, the Open de France and the Sette Colli in Rome.

After the initial season, the LEN Swimming Cup is back with a new format in which 100.000 euros will be distributed among the best performers, beyond the prize money offered by the respective hosts of the four meets.

“We are happy and proud to offer even more for our wonderful athletes in the LEN Swimming Cup, which are going to be among the highlights of the season, leading to the Olympic Games” LEN President Paolo Barelli said. “We involve well-established competitions to our series, this is the best way to serve our athletes and federations and to further promote the top discipline of European Aquatics.”

The top 5 European overall performers among the men and women will be entitled to receive prize money from the pot of 100.000 Euro – the final rankings will be based on the two single best swims (by FINA points), each achieved in different legs (so swimmers will be eligible to receive prize money if they take part at least in two legs – and only the top two results will count). The male and female winner shall earn €16.000 respectively.

The first leg in Luxembourg will already feature some household names of the sport. France’s Olympic champion sprinter Florent Manaudou will continue his comeback campaign, fellow Olympic gold medallist Jeremy Stravius, open water world champion Aurelie Muller – who seeks Olympic success in the pool after she failed to qualify in the marathon – and Charlotte Bonnet are the leading members of the French delegation.

Freshly crowned LEN Award winner Katinka Hosszu is back to the Euro Meet once again, the 9-time world champion Hungarian is targeting more Olympic golds after her treble in Rio and this event is traditional stop in her preparations.

World-record holder butterflier Andriy Govorov and European champion and short-course world champion 1500m-man Mykhailo Romanchuk from Ukraine are also ready to rock in Luxembourg, just like Italy’s two most talented age-groupers, JWR-holder Nicolo Martinenghi and junior world champion Thomas Ceccon.

Altogether 785 athletes from 29 nations have been entered to the event, a giant field for the 22nd edition of the first grand swimming meet of the year.

LEN Swimming Cup 2020
Leg 1 – Euromeet, Luxembourg (24-26 January)
Leg 2 – Swim Cup Eindhoven (9-12 April)
Leg 3 – Open de France, Paris/Chartres (TBD)
Leg 4 – Sette Colli, Rome (26-28 June)

Press release from LEN