In response to media reports last week that the South African Olympic Committee (SASCOC) would not be covering the full costs of travel to the Commonwealth Games for those athletes deemed “breakaways,” in other words who wouldn’t be travelling from South Africa, Swimming South Africa says that they have secured other sources for funding.
“Additional funds have already been sourced to cover any shortfalls no athlete will bear the cost related directly to participation in the commonwealth Games [sic],” the organization has said in a release on their official website.
Originally, athletes who were travelling to Glasgow from other places, such as the United States, were informed that they would only receive about $900 in reimbursement for travel costs, but that Swimming South Africa was working with the SASCOC to secure further funding. This policy on breakaways, according to the release from SSA, applies to all federations that participate in the Commonwealth Games as a part of their agreement with the SASCOC.
The release gave no indication of where that funding was coming from, and Swimming South Africa continues to be unresponsive to requests for more details on the situation. At least one athlete we spoke with indicated that confirmation of full funding had not been communicated to them as of Monday, despite Swimming South Africa declaring it so on Friday.
I am glad that even with its own problems, Swimming Australia does not treat its swimmers like this…
Looks more like damage control than anything else as far as I’m concerned. An email goes out stating the swimmers are responsible for coveting some of their own travel then miraculously in a day they’ve sourced funding!!! Seems odd doesn’t it?
Commonwealth games are in just I’ve a month. How are these swimmers tickets not booked yet?? Surely the delay in booking will cause an exponential increase in air fare. Sad that the only coverage the South African federation gets is negative. Their swimmers continue to excel internationally, yet the federation conduct themselves in such an unprofessional manner. No wonder Gerhard Zandberg took them to court. I definitely wouldn’t care to swim for a federation as useless as they are.