New Zealand's elite swimmers are confused and angry after the world governing body's backflip left them desperately trying to source newly approved high-tech suits a month out from the world championships.
Fina yesterday reversed its earlier ban, and approved more than 100 different suits for the championships starting in Rome
on July 26. It ruled it could not reliably establish that certain suits produced air-trapping effects and extra buoyancy, which originally saw them banned.
Swimming New Zealand coach Jan Cameron was fuming about the decision and feared her 10-strong team could potentially be left behind in Rome, which could endanger their future funding and set unrealistic qualifying standards for next year's Commonwealth Games in Delhi.
"It's disappointing that Fina hasn't been able to take any sane approach towards it," said Cameron. "I guess it's a money thing, and the fear of [legal action from manufacturers], but they don't appear to be governing the situation well.
"Our funding to go forward depends on our performances and world rankings [in Rome]."
Cameron immediately called a meeting with national funding body Sparc on Friday to discuss the issue.
Now it's a race against time for SNZ to source the controversial suits, such as the Arena X-Glide, from Europe where a flood of world records were broken at this year's French and Italian championships. SNZ has a sponsorship deal with Arena, but the X-Glide has not yet found its way to New Zealand.
Cameron hoped they could be available before the team's final pre-championships meet on July 4 in Auckland.
"I don't think it will be very easy. It'll be interesting to see whether [the sponsorship] carries any weight and Arena is able to supply them."
- NZPA
