Titmus Hails Cash Splash as Swim GP Pays Out $20,000 Team Prize
Ariarne Titmus said Swim GP's prize money could help young swimmers reach the national team after Swimming Australia's inaugural two-night event in Melbourne. Team Wahoo won with 222 points and a $20,000 cheque, and 3500 fans attended across both nights.
Ariarne Titmus has hailed the financial boost Swimming Australia's inaugural Swim GP will give athletes, saying the two-night event in Melbourne left her "blown away". The cash splash, she said, could help young swimmers make the national team.
Team Wahoo won the event with 222 points. World championship gold medallists Meg Harris and Sam Short led the way.
Team Wahoo takes the cheque
Team Tsunami finished second on 173 points, ahead of Team Kraken (170) and Team Kingtide (149). Wahoo collected a $20,000 victory cheque, to be divided evenly among its 20 athletes.
Individual and relay races paid out too. Winners of each individual race received $500, with $300 for second and $100 for third. In each relay, the winning team took $1000, the runners-up $700 and third place $400.
A different kind of meet
Swim GP is marketed as "the Formula 1 of Australian swimming". Four teams of 20 athletes competed for points in a 25-metre pool. The format included power plays, checkpoints, a roulette wheel and staggered starts. Fan voting decided the dynamics of certain events.
Able-bodied and para-athletes raced with and against each other. A total of 3500 people packed into Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre across the two nights.
Titmus: 'I would have loved' it
Titmus, a four-time Olympic gold medallist, retired from competitive swimming in October 2025. The new event arrived just too late for her career.
"Look, I would have loved to have had something [like this] when I was swimming," she said during the broadcast. She called it exciting for younger athletes who are "trying to revolutionise itself and help our athletes earn a little bit of money to help them get onto the national team".
Asked whether she wished she was back in the pool, she grinned. "No itches," she said. "I'm happy to have left it where I did."
She said the event exceeded expectations. "This has been bigger and better than I thought it was going to be, and I think what a lot of people thought it was going to be," Titmus said.
She praised the atmosphere and the way athletes, coaches and staff embraced the format. "I think it's been a huge success and I really hope it continues in the next few years," she said.
Short spoke to Paralympic swimming legend Ellie Cole after the final session. He said the sight of a full grandstand, packed with kids and families, made him proud.
"I love swimming, and I felt so proud because the whole stand was packed with kids and families," Short said. "I can't wait to see this event continue in the future."
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