A Kiwi former Olympian has called for swimmers who test positive for performance enhancers to be banned from the sport for life.
Testy tiffs between swimmers over claims of drug cheating have threatened to supersede the action in the pool in Rio.
After open spats between Australia's Mack Horton
and China's Sun Yang, and the 'good versus evil' rivalry between American Lilly King and Russian Yulia Efamova, former swimmer Moss Burmester said a lack of action from the International Olympic Committee has forced athletes to become activists against drug cheats.
"Swimmers for a long time have known that the system is broken and not working, they don't have trust in it," Burmester told the Herald.
"For the IOC to not come out and put that blanket ban on Russia when it was just blatantly open what they'd done has basically opened the door for athletes to be able to speak out. They haven't done their job at all, the IOC has completely copped out.
"It gives clean athletes the right to say something without having their heads taken off which has previously been the case."
Burmester said the harshest penalty should be given to swimmers who are caught using drugs - a life ban from the sport.
The two-time Olympian has urged athletes to step down from the dais in protest at the IOC's stance on Russian athletes, and opened up about his own experience competing against swimmers who had an unfair advantage.
"I've been there, and I knew there were athletes who were doping.
"But at the end of the day you're still there trying to do your best. Yes it's really frustrating but you're also trying to beat them, and it feels amazing when you are clean and you beat people who have been cheating."
He said the athletes would be avoiding letting the disputes have an impact on their performance.
"It's been your dream since you were a little kid, you're trying not to let it get to you."
Burmester said sweeping reforms of swimming's governing bodies were needed.
"It needs to be athlete-driven and focused and [athletes] need to be given the mandate and the power to set the rules and set the structure.
"I bet you if you asked athletes what they wanted in terms of bans for cheats, they wouldn't say a two-year ban or a four-year ban, it'd most likely be a lifetime ban from the sport. You'd see things completely change."
Australian swimmer Mack Horton labelled Sun Yang of China a drug cheat before beating him in the 400m freestyle final, due to Sun's three-month ban for doping in 2014.
"I used the words drug cheat because he tested positive," Horton said.
"He's one of the athletes here who has tested positive."
His calls were echoed by France's Camille Lacourt, who told French radio that Sun "pisses purple" after the Chinese swimmer won the 200m freestyle.
