Dolphins team leader Mitch Larkin will contest the new International Swimming League (ISL) this year, saying the breakaway competition will keep under-fire world body FINA honest.
Larkin - recently reappointed on the five-strong Dolphins leadership group for 2019-20 - says he will skip FINA's Champions Swim Series (CSS) and instead contest the privately-funded ISL, created by billionaire Konstantin Grigorishin.
"The ISL will keep FINA in check. For years they had really strict regulations around corporate revenue and sponsorship," Larkin told AAP.
"It limited opportunities to create money. With the ISL it's a great opportunity to keep FINA honest.
"They (FINA) are now going to reassess their regulations and try and keep the swimmers happy but they have some more work to do."
FINA will launch the invitation-only, $A5.5 million CSS - which they have described as the "richest swimming event in history" - in Guangzhou, China next month with a May leg in Budapest and an Indianapolis round that will be completed by June 1.
The CSS was created as a response to the emergence of the end-of-year ISL, boasting a prize pool of $A7.5 million.
The world body reportedly told swimmers they would cop bans if they competed in the ISL, prompting boycott threats from some of the sport's biggest stars.
FINA has since publicly clarified it would not stand in the way of athletes contesting the lucrative ISL to end a standoff with angry swimmers, some on minimum wage.
However, Larkin and the bulk of Australian swimming's biggest names are still set to skip the CSS because it clashes with the national championships in Adelaide next month followed by the world titles trials in Brisbane from June 9-14.
Larkin confirmed he had received invites from both leagues but would only contest the ISL, which boasts 12 teams in a 12-leg series set to finish in Las Vegas from December 17-22.
"I got the FINA invite but I said no. I want to stay home and train, the world championships (in July) is the main focus this year, plus a year out from the Olympics you don't want to bite off more than you can chew," Larkin said.
"But the ISL is something I am excited about. The more chances you get to race the best in the world, the more confident you become."
