Swimming South Africa's high-performance model is increasingly relying on athlete contributions, leaving some athletes facing costs of up to R120,000 to represent the country.
Three South African artistic swimmers selected to compete at the Junior Artistic Swimming Championships in Hungary next month face a bill of R120,000 each to represent their country.
The high price, which increased from an initial R85,980, came after eight of the 11 anticipated athletes declined to participate in the tour, scheduled for 12-16 August. This is according to Swimming South Africa (SSA) operations manager Mafata Modutoane, who responded to Daily Maverick on behalf of the federation.
The withdrawals meant fixed tour costs had to be shared among fewer competitors.
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The figure highlights the reality within South African aquatic sport, where athletes are expected to fund a significant portion of their international participation.
It is unclear why the eight athletes declined to participate, but a source within the swimming community told Daily Maverick that costs were a major factor.
Vague 'staff, management costs' requirement
On top of athletes being asked to pay exorbitant competition costs, they are also required to contribute to staff and management costs.
In a document issued in May, swimmers named in a provisional squad for next month's Pan Pacific Championships, running from 12 to 15 August in California, were informed that they would be responsible for...
