Former 50 metres freestyle world record holder Mark Foster believes national performance director Bill Sweetenham should be "taking responsibility" for Great Britain's disappointing display in the pool in Athens.

Foster, who was not selected for the British team after falling agonisingly short of the qualification time in the trials, dismissed Sweetenham's assertion that 'Olympic phobia' was one of the main reasons for the paucity of medals.

Foster said: "He is just making excuses. He should be taking responsibility - he sets the programme.

"There was no pressure on him because it could not get any worse after Sydney."

Stephen Parry and David Davies both won bronze in the 200m butterfly and 1,500m freestyle respectively but a total of two medals fell short of expectations after the team secured eight at the World Championships in Barcelona last year.

Foster described the Olympic campaign as "disappointing" after last year's success.

He said: "Last year we got six medals in Olympic events and we got two in Athens that we didn't get in the worlds.

"Realistically we had about 10 good shouts and to come away with two is only a 20% success rate. I believed they'd get more.

"It's not all doom and gloom. We have improved but the year it has counted it didn't happen."

The 34-year-old claimed the timing of the Olympic trials in April had been detrimental as the swimmers had to hit peak performance to ensure selection before attempting to attain that standard again for the Olympics.

He also claimed last year's programme, which was more meet-orientated prior to the worlds, should have been replicated as it was a proven success.

He said: "We are teaching bodies to swim fast in April when competitions are in the summer months.

"I would like to have the trials two or three weeks before the competition. It is easier to maintain speed and sharpness than find it.

"You need to race - racing becomes training and you need to be sharp.

"You can't keep up excuses or looking for reasons.

"He stuck with it last year and then changed it in Olympic year.

"People got used to one regime and then it changed."

The former world champion also queried the benefits of Sweetenham's emphasis on standing and falling as a team.

He said: "At the trials everyone does their own preparation and then you are suddenly thrown into a team situation where ultimately you are an individual but it is drummed into you that you are a team.

"But you are an individual - you are your own person."

He also believes that Sweetenham's description of the Olympic environment as "unforgiving" and "unrelenting" scared people, adding: "The Olympics are another big meet - it's the same for everyone else."

Foster believes many swimmers would benefit from moving to the United States, describing the American coaches as "the best in the world" and "technically awesome".

While admitting access to good facilities, a bugbear of Sweetenham, is an important element of an athlete's development he denied it was the be all and end all.

He dismissed the suggestion that access to 50m pools was essential, citing the examples of athletes such as 1992 Olympic breaststroke medallist Nick Gillingham, freestyler Karen Pickering and Foster himself who have all trained in 25m pools.

Foster described the pain of his omission from the Games.

Instead of taking part in his fifth successive Olympics he was forced to watch it at home.

He said: "It was devastating to watch it.

"I'm not saying I would have won it or medalled but the thing is I will never know.

"I performed when the chips were down last summer.

"This has been my best summer - I have gone under 22.6 seconds (for 50m) seven times - I have never done that before.

"The work was done, the confidence was there but I will never know."