The country's top swimmers could be denied the chance to wear the Fastskin suit, which manufacturer Speedo claims can shave 3% off times, even though the British Olympic Association granted them special permission to use the outfit last month.

The row centres around a multi-million pound four year sponsorship deal between the BOA and Adidas, which gave Speedo's rivals exclusive rights to kit out the British team.

But after Speedo and British medal hopefuls including Karen Pickering, Mark Foster and James Hickman put pressure on the BOA, the association's executive committee last month agreed at an emergency meeting that British swimmers could wear Fastskin suits.

Problem

The BOA got round the problem by reclassifying the suits as specialised equipment, meaning they were not covered by the Adidas contract.

However, Speedo now claims the BOA has ordered them to take their logos off Fastskin suits worn by British swimmers in Sydney and use the Adidas colours of blue and red.

A Speedo spokeswoman said: "Speedo has told the BOA it could not comply with demand placed on it to make fundamental changes to its revolutionary Fastskin suit.

"Speedo cannot compromise the design of the suit, which has taken four years to test and perfect in a multi-million pound global project.

"If the BOA will not accept the Fastskin suit for use, our British swimmers will be disadvantaged at the Sydney Olympics since swimmers from more than 26 other countries will be wearing them."

Since Fastskin suits were introduced several top swimmers have worn them to set 10 new world records.