2026 World Aquatics World Cup #1 – Baku
The first stop of the 2026 World Aquatics World Cup Silk Road Tour in Baku wrapped up today, which means it is time to track prize money totals and series standings after one stop.
The prize money follows the same structure as last year, with at least $1,196,000 in prize money being awarded across the three stops. This money comes from their overall stop ranking, which is determined by a combination of AQUA points and event finish points. This is outlined in the Rules and Regulations for the series. The top 20 swimmers earn prize money for the stop.
The event prize money totals are as follows:
| Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th |
| Points | 10 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Those points are then added to the points awarded based on an athlete’s AQUA total. A swim worth 999-990 points will be worth 9.9 points. An 989-980 point swim will be worth 9.8 points, etc.
There are three ways that athletes can earn additional prize money:
- World Records: If an athlete breaks a world record, they will receive an additional $10,000.
- Triple Crown: If an athlete wins the same event at all three stops of the tour, they will receive an additional $10,000. If that athlete goes on to also win the event at the SC World Championships, they can earn an additional $15,000 prize in Beijing.
- “Crown Buster”: Just like last year, the crown buster is back. At the final stop of the series in Astana, Kazakhstan, any athlete that prevents a swimmer from winning a triple crown will earn a $2,500 award.
Only the world record bonus was available to be earned at the first stop in Baku, and Russia’s Egor Kornev was the first swimmer to earn this bonus on the Tour. He swam 44.84 in the men’s 100 freestyle to tie Kyle Chalmers‘ 2021 world record time and pick up the world record bonus and 20 points for that swim.
Kornev currently leads the overall prize money totals with $22,000 earned at the first stop. He sits ahead of Luke Barr, who earned $10,000 for finishing 2nd.
Marrit Steenbergen, the winner of the women’s rankings earned $12,000.
Men’s Standings/Earnings — Baku
| Rank | Name | Country | Ranking Points | World Record Bonus | Money Earned (Ranking) | |
| 1 | Egor Kornev | RUS | 59.3 | $10,000 | $12,000 | $22,000 |
| 2 | Luke Barr | CLB | 57.4 | $0 | $10,000 | $10,000 |
| 3 | Pieter Coetze | RSA | 55.6 | $0 | $8,000 | $8,000 |
| 4 | Carson Foster | USA | 53.8 | $0 | $6,000 | $6,000 |
| 5 | Chen Juner | CHN | 52.9 | $0 | $5,500 | $5,500 |
| 6 | Lucas Henveaux | BEL | 51.1 | $0 | $5,400 | $5,400 |
| 7 | Shaine Casas | USA | 50.7 | $0 | $5,300 | $5,300 |
| 8 | Kirill Prigoda | RUS | 49.7 | $0 | $5,200 | $5,200 |
| 9 | Caspar Corbeau | NED | 48.5 | $0 | $5,100 | $5,100 |
| 10 | Cameron McEvoy | AUS | 47.6 | $0 | $5,000 | $5,000 |
| 11 | So Ogata | JPN | 47.6 | $0 | $4,900 | $4,900 |
| 12 | Pavel Samusenko | RUS | 47.1 | $0 | $4,800 | $4,800 |
| 13 | Alberto Razzetti | ITA | 46.9 | $0 | $4,700 | $4,700 |
| 14 | He Yubo | CHN | 43.3 | $0 | $4,600 | $4,600 |
| 15 | Sean Niewold | NED | 41 | $0 | $4,500 | $4,500 |
| 16 | Finlay Knox | CAN | 40.5 | $0 | $4,400 | $4,400 |
| 17 | Ivan Girev | RUS | 39.8 | $0 | $4,300 | $4,300 |
| 18 | Dylan Carter | TTO | 39.4 | $0 | $4,200 | $4,200 |
| 19 | Lewis Clareburt | NZL | 38.7 | $0 | $4,100 | $4,100 |
| 20 | Ilia Borodin | RUS | 38.4 | $0 | $4,000 | $4,000 |
Women’s Standings/Earnings — Baku
| Rank | Name | Country Code | Ranking Points | World Record Bonus | Money Earned (Ranking) | |
| 1 | Marrit Steenbergen | NED | 58.2 | $0 | $12,000 | $12,000 |
| 2 | Roos Vanotterdijk | BEL | 54.2 | $0 | $10,000 | $10,000 |
| 3 | Yu Yiting | CHN | 53.7 | $0 | $8,000 | $8,000 |
| 4 | Anna Peplowski | CLB | 52.6 | $0 | $6,000 | $6,000 |
| 5 | Mona McSharry | IRL | 50.4 | $0 | $5,500 | $5,500 |
| 6 | Taylor Ruck | CAN | 48.2 | $0 | $5,400 | $5,400 |
| 7 | Evgeniia Chikunova | RUS | 48.1 | $0 | $5,300 | $5,300 |
| 8 | Chang Mohan | CHN | 47.9 | $0 | $5,200 | $5,200 |
| 9 | Freya Colbert | GBR | 45.8 | $0 | $5,100 | $5,100 |
| 10 | Abbie Wood | GBR | 45 | $0 | $5,000 | $5,000 |
| 11 | Ching Hwee Gan | SGP | 41.9 | $0 | $4,900 | $4,900 |
| 12 | Ellen Walshe | IRL | 41.5 | $0 | $4,800 | $4,800 |
| 13 | Daria Klepikova | RUS | 41.2 | $0 | $4,700 | $4,700 |
| 14 | Aimee Canny | RSA | 40 | $0 | $4,600 | $4,600 |
| 15 | Rebecca Meder | CLB | 39.7 | $0 | $4,500 | $4,500 |
| 16 | Caitlin Deans | NZL | 39.5 | $0 | $4,400 | $4,400 |
| 17 | Sara Junevik | SWE | 38.8 | $0 | $4,300 | $4,300 |
| 18 | Waka Kobori | JPN | 38.5 | $0 | $4,200 | $4,200 |
| 19 | Wang Yichun | CHN | 37.7 | $0 | $4,100 | $4,100 |
| 20 | Yan Tiaoshan | CHN | 37.3 | $0 | $4,000 | $4,000 |
