FINA on Tuesday allowed athletes to "take part in independent competitions in a bid to settle a financial dispute," but the world swimming federation said that results from those events "will require its approval" to be considered official, according to Karolos Grohmann of REUTERS. FINA has been under "growing pressure from competitive swimmers," including Britain’s Adam Peaty, who are "demanding a bigger financial share from the revenues the sport generates." The organization said, "FINA acknowledges that swimmers are free to participate in competitions or events staged by independent organisers, namely entities which are neither members of FINA nor related to it in any way." Three world-class swimmers -- Katinka Hosszu of Hungary and Tom Shields and Michael Andrew of the U.S. -- filed a lawsuit in the U.S. last month "challenging what they allege is the monopoly FINA has" over the control of int'l competitions (REUTERS, 1/15). The BBC reported FINA's action "was partly in response" to its own rival, Champions Swim Series, which reportedly offers a "much smaller prize fund." FINA's statement said, "If an independent organiser does not obtain or does not request the above-mentioned approval, all results or records of such unapproved competition or event will be deemed null and void and ignored by Fina." Tuesday's development "appears to end the risk of future major competitions taking place without the sport's top stars," with British Swimming saying it "welcomes the clarifications" (BBC, 1/15).
