Some of Australia's top swimmers are backing an organisation set up as a rival to the world swimming body, FINA, which is promising to pay athletes more in prize money.
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The International Swimming League has been bitterly opposed by FINA, the institution that has run Olympic swimming for 110 years, which sees the upstart organisation as an existential threat.
Founded by Ukrainian energy tycoon Konstantin Grigorishin, ISL is locked in a legal dispute with FINA after it threatened to block athletes from competing in the 2020 Toyko Olympics if they participated in an unsanctioned ISL event that was set to be held in Turin this month before it was cancelled.
Australian Olympic medallists Madeline Groves and Emily Seebohm are expected to attend an ISL-run summit in London next week to establish a new global Professional Swimmers Association, which will provide athletes with the "tools to build a brighter future for their sport in a professional environment," event organisers said.
"So looking forward to this and so privileged to be a part of it," Groves said on Twitter.
International champions Katinka Hosszu of Hungary, South African Chad Le Clos and Adam Peaty of England are also on the list of expected attendees at the event, which includes athletes from 10 leading swimming nations including the United States.
Several prominent swimmers past and present, including Australian Olympic champion Cate Campbell and legend Dawn Fraser, have come out in support of the ISL because they say swimmers are not being paid enough by FINA.
In Australia, Olympic gold medal-winning swimmers receive an annual grant of just $26,000.
Two lawsuits have been filed in the US this week, one by swimmers and one by the ISL, accusing FINA of illegally monopolising top-level swimming in the wake of the cancelled Turin event.
"This case is also about whether FINA—entrenched in and fearful of losing total control over lucrative swimming competitions—unlawfully wields its dominant influence to prevent outside organisations from expanding opportunities for hundreds of world-class swimmers and their millions of fans across the world," the ISL filing claims.
In a statement, FINA said that its attention was focussed on the ongoing short course championships in Hangzhou, China.
"FINA will nonetheless give the filings our full attention and mount a robust defense if required to do so," FINA said.
"As always, FINA remains open to proposals that would genuinely enhance - rather than conflict with - the current and planned competition calendars, providing further opportunities for aquatics athletes, and ideally in a manner that benefits the whole sport."
