Coming to the BP discussion late.
I’m going to go against the grain and say I think Ben is at the end of his swimming career and this is an opportunity to make really good money. He would never make this sort of money in retirement for a few swims.
From what I’ve read - they can choose to swim using banned super suits, not necessarily use pharmaceuticals.
I think the bigger question is why one of our most successful swimmers feels the need to do this and at the end of the day, it comes down to this sport not paying the sort of money you could get playing football or similar.
Having spent a few years navigating NGB funding, I can tell you it’s disheartening. Rates of pay for carded swimmers are poor and haven’t kept pace with inflation for years. We all know how hard training within this sport is.
World Aquatics prize money is limited and they shut down the only other attempt (ISL) to create a more entertaining swimming event which would pay swimmers.
If we are the sort of sport that only gets spectators once every years during the Olympics, there won’t ever be money to properly pay swimmers.