In theory, if a swimmer was the season's best scorer in all of their matches, they could win up to $175,000 in MVP bonuses alone. The 2019 MVP, Sarah Sjostrom, won a total of $139,700 for the season, which includes racing and team bonus award money. There is also a performance bonus based on how well you do in comparison to your own previous season. In practice, most ISL athletes work part-time while training full time. They make enough money to cover their living expenses but not enough to live comfortably. The salary scale for athletes starts at $10,000 and goes up to $120,000. However, most earn much less than this because they race only part of the year and have no contract. Some high-profile athletes can earn as much as $150,000 per year but these are rare cases. There is a wide variety of sports within the ISL with different salaries associated with them. The highest-paying league is the Elite League which features ice hockey teams. The lowest-paying league is the Open Women's League which consists of just one team. The average salary of an athlete is about $20,000. Ice swimmers compete in leagues across the world, with some countries having more than one team participating in the competition.