Aussie swim team unhappy with Olympic suits

AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE

ADELAIDE: Most of the Australian swimming team are not happy with the official swimsuit they are expected to compete in at this year's London Olympics, reports said Thursday.

Sisters Cate and Bronte Campbell, who have both qualified for London, said dissatisfaction with the Elite Fastskin Pro suit presented to the Olympic team by their official sponsor Speedo was so high that many were applying for official exemptions to compete wearing something else, newspapers said.

"I think there's about two people on the team who are happy with the Speedo suit at the moment," Bronte Campbell told The Sydney Morning Herald.

"I think most of the team is happy with the older Speedo suit, so they may have to look at (wearing) that."

The Campbell sisters are sponsored by a rival swimwear company and will wear an unmarked swimsuit at London, being among 32 Australian athletes who successfully applied to the Australian Olympic Committee for exemptions.

Dual Olympic relay gold medallist Jessicah Schipper said she tried the latest Speedo product but preferred her sponsor's outfit.

"It's unofficial as of yet but I'm hoping to be wearing adidas over there," Schipper told the newspaper.

"I've tried (the Speedo suit) out, and I find they just don't fit my body as well as the ones that were designed for me, and at the end of the day I want to race in what fits me best."

Speedo said in a statement it was continuing to work closely with the AOC and the Australian swimming team "to deliver suits that will allow them to feel confident and compete to the highest standard in the lead up to and during the London 2012 Olympics."

Swimsuits caused an uproar at the 2009 Rome world championships when swimmers wearing high-tech polyurethane swimsuits set a total of 43 world records at the meet, leading to their ban by head body FINA in favour of garments made from textile materials.