Signs of recovery in and out of the pool have given Swimming Australia a timely boost as it prepares to ramp up the search for a new coach, president and major sponsor.
SA chief executive Mark Anderson believes some strong results at the world championships in Barcelona, and evidence of an improved team culture, should help attract potential investors.
He also revealed the formal hiring process for a new head coach and president will begin immediately after the event, with interest in the roles already strong.
Australian swimming's governing body remains without a major commercial partner after EnergyAustralia pulled out just 18 months into a five-year deal in June.
It came in the wake a of a disastrous London campaign and only days after former president Barclay Nettlefold resigned amid claims of inappropriate behaviour.
Anderson, a former Hockey Australia chief who joined SA in May, said the improvements shown by the swim team in both performance and attitude in Barcelona showed things were back on track.
He said that would help to sell the sport to new investors but stressed SA was not panicking over the sponsorship situation.
"What we wanted to do is make sure we got the foundations right," Anderson said.
"Clearly performance is a key part of that but also organisationally that we had things right that we were able to go out and sell the vision of what we want to be as an organisation and a team.
"Getting some results here, and we were confident we would get some results, was pivotal.
"There's a couple more stages we need to go through before we're aggressively out in the market but we'll do that in the near future."
With one day of competition remaining in Barcelona, Australia had collected 10 medals - three gold and seven silver.
Anderson has been equally impressed by the team environment after an independent review found a "toxic" culture within the squad contributed to the London downfall.
"Clearly I'm coming from outside the sport so I'm seeing it with fresh eyes," Anderson said.
"But what I've seen in terms of how the team's reacting with each other and the staff, it is a genuinely great environment."
The squad has been overseen by newly-appointed high performance director Michael Scott in Spain after former head coach Leigh Nugent became another casualty of the London campaign.
Anderson confirmed Nugent would remain with SA in a yet-to-be-determined role and said the new coach could be from Australia or abroad.
"We're looking for the best in the world," Anderson said.
Likewise there were no limitations on whether the new president would come from a swimming background or not.
Anderson also revealed January's aquatic super series in Perth would likely be expanded to four teams, with Japan close to signing on to join visiting squads from China and South Africa.
The star-studded US team will also visit Australia next year for the Pan Pacific Championships on the Gold Coast.
"(Those events) represent a massive opportunity for us, repositioning our sport and going out into the market with quality events, quality teams and athletes coming out," Anderson said.
