Swimmers warn of morning lethargy

Top swimmers are up in arms over morning finals at the Beijing Olympics and will struggle to get anywhere near world records, said Asian Games gold medallist Vladislav Polyakov.

American broadcaster NBC - which paid $3.55 billion for the exclusive media rights to the Sydney, Athens and Beijing Games - requested the switch to the morning to coincide with prime-time viewing in the US.

Swimming's governing body FINA had urged the IOC to reverse the decision after an uproar among swimmers and coaches, who say world record performances will be compromised by the multi-million dollar TV deal.

"Swimmers are not happy about this at all," Asian Games 50m breaststroke champion Polyakov told Reuters.

"This is all being done because of money without thinking about the competitors. The swimmers were never consulted.

"Records will be hard to beat because it's difficult to swim fast early in the morning."

Training programmes and sleeping patterns would have to change if swimmers are to have a chance of clocking quick times, he added.

Polyakov, an Olympic finalist in Athens, said he might consider waking up in the middle of the night to give his body time to adjust on race days.

Japanese head coach Norimasa Hirai, who helped Kosume Kitajima win two gold medals in Athens, said the damage had already been done and coaches and swimmers had to adapt.

"For the swimmers, it will be very difficult to race fast in the morning," Hirai said.