Swimming Australia was rocked early Wednesday morning once again, as EnergyAustralia and Swimming Australia jointly revealed that the five-year sponsorship deal between the two, which is just 12 months old, exists no more.
The deal, which local media believes to be worth $2 million per year, leaves Australia without sponsorship for its senior national championship meets and many of its annual awards (though most references on the Swimming Australia website to those two events still bear the EnergyAustralia name as of posting.)
Shortly after the news broke, SwimmingAustralia’s new CEO Mark Anderson released a statement acknowledging the split, saying that “This is a difficult time for Swimming Australia and we recognise there are no easy solutions…Financial support from sponsors is important to the success of Australian Swimming, but ultimate success in the pool is built upon hard work and a strong and stable supporting organisation.”
Though Anderson took over his role after it seemed that much progress had been made in reshaping what was deemed a “Toxic” culture in the organization, this is the latest blow to those efforts in about a month on the job. Last week, president Barlcay Nettlefold resigned after he was accused, and then admitted to, making inappropriate statements both to a female consultant and in front of several high-ranking SA officials.
Anderson’s statements didn’t shy away from the controversy. “Firstly, Barclay Nettlefold resigned as President of Swimming Australia at the weekend. Now a major sponsor has withdrawn its support from Swimming Australia. This is obviously disappointing but we respect the decision.”
He also feels as though success in the pool is coming, noting that “Recent results in the pool have been extremely encouraging. The trials in Adelaide showed that we are once again developing young champion swimmers – who are among the best in the world. The results are testament to the hard work and dedication by our athletes, coaches and their families. As an organisation – we need to match these efforts across all areas of the sport. This includes internal conduct, corporate governance standards and respect for others. We want to build a team and organisation that shares these values and ideals.”