Olympic champion Peaty criticises poltics in the pool

The fastest breaststroker in the world took to Twitter to vent his frustration and has labelled the cancellation of the 2018 Energy for Swim meet as "the wrong decision."

"I'm incredibly disappointed next month's swim meet in Turin has been cancelled because of politics," Peaty said.

"As swimmers who represent our country and are passionate about our sport, we need to ask why. I firmly believe that the athletes should be at the heart of any decision made by our governing body and this is just what our sport and the athletes need.

"I think this is the wrong decision and it will galvanize the swimmers, not break them."

The 23-year-old has previously vocalised his support for the new International Swimming League (ISL), to which Fina, swimming's international governing body, has reacted to with hostility.

Organisers of the ISL have said they attempted to gain approval, but Fina refused to acknowledge their bid as the new event would be a rival to their own World Cup series.

Peaty was one of the first swimmers to sign up to the event, which was due to be held on December 20 and 21. Double Olympic silver medallist James Guy and Commonwealth champions Duncan Scott and Ben Proud were also scheduled to race in Turin.

In an open letter to athletes, Italian swimming federation (FIN) president Paolo Barelli said: "We understand that this may be considered as anti-competitive conduct, which is not permitted under European Union law, which, as a European Federation, FIN must comply with.

"FIN can only assume that Fina's true motive is to safeguard its dominant position as the sole and exclusive license holder of aquatics sports."

Sportsbeat 2018