Hong Kong's finest swimmers are being asked to foot part of the bill when they represent the city in overseas competition.
Sherry Tsai Hiu-wai, a bronze medallist at the Doha Asian Games in 2006 who will represent Hong Kong at the World Swimming Championships in Rome in July, described the practice as 'discouraging' and called for the system to be overhauled.
'This is completely unreasonable,' said Tsai, who will have to stump up HK$5,000 if she wants to compete in Rome. 'I am representing Hong Kong and I can't see why I have to pay for the trip to Rome.
'Many swimmers are still students and they have to ask their parents to come up with the money. If they are not from well-off families, they may have a problem. We train very hard to qualify for events like the World championships, and it is very discouraging if we have to pay our own way to represent Hong Kong.'
At the 2007 world championships in Melbourne, Tsai set Hong Kong records in the 100-metre backstroke, 200-metre individual medley and the 50-metre backstroke, clinching two berths at the Beijing Olympics.
The Hong Kong Amateur Swimming Association said it had no choice but to ask swimmers to contribute towards the cost of competing overseas because it did not receive enough government funding.