British National Team Rejects Official Team Swimsuit; “We Won’t Be Bullied” Says Top Swimmer

By Craig Lord

LONDON, July 4. THE Great Britain national swim team has rejected an offer to share in any profits made from the new suit that will be launched as the
national team kit in Henley today, despite the fact that the federation that governs them is in the red.

The determination of lottery-funded swimmers to be
given freedom of choice when it comes to technical equipment will be reinforced at the World Championships later this month, when sightings of the
official swimwear may be rare.

As the 27-strong squad headed out for a training camp
in Hong Kong tomorrow in readiness for competition in Fukuoka from July 16-22, the statistics of choice do not bode well for the deal between Diana, an Italian suitmaker seeking to break into the British market,
and the Amateur Swimming Federation of Great Britain,
which said that it needed the commission it would earn from every Diana suit sold in Britain under the innovative contract.

While swimmers have rejected the deal, the federation
and coaches have entered into the commission deal. The structure of a rewards program for coaches, funded from commission, is yet to be determined.

Twenty swimmers are signed up to Speedo, four to
Arena, and one — Paul Palmer, the Olympic silver medal-winner in 1996 — to adidas, while the remaining two have asked Speedo to provide suits. All rejected an offer to share sale proceeds, fearing that it would
affect their freedom of choice, guaranteed to them
under the terms of the tender document sent to suitmakers last year.

Conscious of those facts, the federation is being
flexible for Fukuoka, where those wearing bodysuits may choose any make provided that branding is removed if the suit is not made by Diana. Longer-term, the federation intends to get tough in order to appease
Diana and help to pay for changes demanded by Bill
Sweetenham, Britain’s Australian performance director, who has called on the federation to find him a £1 million backer.

"We’ve made it clear to swimmers that further down
the road we will tighten up on the suits policy," David Sparkes, the chief executive of the federation and head of the affiliated Amateur Swimming Association in England, said.

The federation has got a battle on its hands. One top
swimmer said the squad would "not be bullied." Speedo is providing branded suits for swimmers heading to Fukuoka, ensuring a clash of wills of the kind that saw Mark Foster sent home early from the Olympic Games last year. He wore a branded Speedo suit instead of an
official adidas costume.

Speedo maintains that the federation did not consult
it properly. The company, based in Nottingham, will continue its support to individual swimmers and clubs, which amounts to more than £300,000 a year.

Sparkes said: "I’m disappointed that they continue to
support China but not Britain. If they want to spend £300,000 I would prefer to see it targeted where it is most needed." He said the Diana deal was "more than double" the value of that the federation had held with
Speedo between 1996 and 2000.

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