TAVISTOCK Swimming Club is risking expulsion from the National Arena Swimming League rather than pay, what they claim, is a ‘punitive maximum £500 fine’, for deciding against attending a gala more than 100 miles away in Dorset.

Tavistock, along with Dawlish, Exmouth, Oddicombe and Torquay swimming clubs, are making their stand on a point of principle. They claim that had they attended the Western League meet in Dorchester, hosted by Plymouth-based Devonport Royals, their swimmers, some aged as young as nine, would have had to compete late in to the evening and not return home until the early hours of the morning.

With the gala finishing at 9.30pm the team would not have left Dorchester until at least 10.15pm and would have arrived back home well after midnight.

Devonport, who have paid the fine, hosted a rearranged National Arena Swimming League Western Division meet in Plymouth on the scheduled date of October 10.

Although the clubs informed the league of the alternative arrangements some weeks before, it was not until three days before that they were told they must swim at Dorchester or suffer the consequences; this meant a three-point deduction and the maximum fine the National Arena League Western League administration could levy, namely £500 apiece.

The clubs agreed to the points deduction so long as the fines were not imposed but their offer was ignored, leaving the club officials angry and frustrated.

Neil Marks, chairman of Tavistock Swimming Club, said his and other Devon clubs appealed to national officers after being rebuffed by regional executive officers but that appeal, too, fell on deaf ears.

He described the whole situation as ‘farcical’.

Mr Marks told the Times: ‘It seems to us, despite the justice of our case and that the meet went ahead anyway on the set date, they are determined to get the £500 fines from us and we are equally determined that we will not pay.

‘We will not resign from the league and if they want to take further action against us, they will have to expel us.’

‘One would have thought that booking an alternative venue with a start of 1.30pm, instead of 6.30pm, saving transport costs of over £3,000 to the six clubs would make more sense.

‘Hopefully, common sense will prevail and the matter can be settled amicably.’

In response Neil MacKenzie, the national secretary of the NASL, said that under the rules the national league cannot cannot intervene in the local issues as each of the seven leagues has different issues with pools and travel.

However, he said: ‘Some venues are booked for many years in advance. Some pool providers are not prepared to enter into agreements in advance unless the league can guarantee that their home club will be at the event. As with many things that don’t go as people would wish there are many underlying issues.’

The Western League, has 27 venues to accommodate its 60 teams, with a widespread geographical area from Neath/Swansea in the west, to Bournemouth and Bristol down to Plymouth.’

Mr MacKenzie added: ‘The officers of the league do their utmost to ensure the athlete gets the best competition possible. Unusually the Western league are able to get pools during the day whereas other leagues struggle to commence their galas before 7pm. This means that often the youngsters are not getting home until very late or in the early hours. Having said that, many clubs have said that they do not want day time galas as those athletes who work on Saturdays cannot take part.’ 

The Times contacted Adrian Edwards, the the secretary of the National Swimming League Western division and he would only say ‘I don’t think it is appropriate for the league to comment at this stage.’

Mr Marks joined Bro Potter representing Oddicombe at a meeting last week in Cardiff with Mr Edwards. He said at that meeting the league made no official commitment on any reduction to the fine and would not withdraw the penalty notice or compromise finacially on the appeal.

‘The league thus has not given us any reason,’ said Mr Marks, ‘despite compromises offered by us to take the point deduction and move on, to dispel our assumption that this is all about the money and that is the key driver here. We are not paying a single penny.  We are also not resigning.’

Mr Marks said they are unhappy that they have been told that any further action against the clubs will not be taken until a meeting of the elusive ‘executive committee’ in January, so they are in a ‘state of limbo’ not knowing if the clubs are going to be excluded for next year.

‘I assume that if we don’t go to Dorchester we will get more deductions and potentially  more fines. This dispute then could roll on in to next season. We were  at least hoping to conclude it last night (at the Cardiff meeting) and move on but again, evidently not. Complete madness.’