Members to have say on uniform dispute

Swim Wairarapa are calling on their own membership to help solve the uniform controversy which has been dogging the sport in recent weeks.
The constitution of the parent body says in part that ''any swimmer who is selected to represent Swin Wairarapa, or any swimmer who competes at any national championship meet, shall be required to wear the official Swim Wairarapa uniform''.
South Wairarapa-based clubs like Carterton and Greytown have supported the ruling, but not so the Masterton Swimming Club which elected to have their swimmers dressed in their own club uniform at both the 2010 New Zealand junior and age group championships.
The club argued it was within its rights to do so.
Swimming Wairarapa general secretary, Maryann Corrigan, said the uniform issue was raised at a delegate's meeting on Tuesday night and while the consensus was that the constitution was crystal clear in its intent, there was also the desire to give the entire Wairarapa swimming community the opportunity to have their say on the matter.
''We want a quick resolution to this issue and hopefully we can hurry things up by asking the people involved in the sport to state what they think.''
Corrigan said the installation of a new database meant contacting those registered with all Wairarapa clubs, including officials, would be a relatively simple task and she stressed opinions made in the survey would be treated as ''confidential and legally privileged''.
''If the membership aren't happy with our stand they can tell us and if they are they can tell us that too,'' she said. ''Obviously their views will play a big part in what happens next, and that's the way it should be.''
Asked whether there was any thought of Swim New Zealand being requested to adjudicate on the matter Corrigan said they had been kept informed of developments and their intervention was still a possibility.
''The ideal would be to solve things ourselves but if we can't do that then, yes, we might have to go to a higher authority.''
Meanwhile, Swim Wairarapa will host the annual Fairbrother Shield inter-centre meet. It also involves teams representing Wellington and Manawatu, at the Genesis Recreation Centre pool in Masterton on March 27 and swimmers representing Wairarapa _ a number of whom could be expected to come from the Masterton club _ will be required to wear the centre's official uniform.