The president of the Hong Kong China Swimming Association, Ronnie Wong, on Thursday said the association would give special consideration to high-potential young swimmers to participate in races.

His remarks came amid calls to revise the rules for competition qualifications over accusations that some swimmers had been discriminated against due to the club they belonged to.

Local media reported that a nine-year-old was denied entry to compete at the 2024 open championships in Hong Kong due to the ranking of his swimming club, despite the swimmer meeting the qualifying time.

Speaking on an RTHK radio programme, Wong said the association would not hinder swimmers with potential.

"We need to take care of a lot of clubs. Under some special circumstances if the swimmers are really outstanding, but the clubs they belong to are not qualified for open race, we will consider allowing the swimmers to compete. But this is only on an individual consideration," he said.

New People's Party lawmaker Adrian Ho told the same radio programme that the association should remove higher-ranked clubs, that have been inactive for two or three years, from affiliation, allowing lower-ranked clubs to move up and take their place.

"Because according to the current rules of the swimming association, if a club does not cancel its affiliation, there will be no room for lower-ranked clubs to advance. If there are clubs which don't have any activity, and remain in the same position, there is no chance for lower-ranked clubs to advance," he explained.

Ho also said the association should enhance transparency by disclosing the number of inactive clubs and ensure fair handling of club rankings.