Swimmers 'most marketable' Olympic athletes

Swimmers are Australia's most marketable Olympians according to research by Sweeney Sports.

Sweeney Sports- post-Olympic survey founded that swimmers - Grant Hackett (pictured), Libby Trickett, Stephanie Rice, Leisel Jones, Eamon Sullivan and Jessicah Schipper - were the most marketable Olympians. The swimmers nominated as having the highest score for a combination of three assessments of Olympic athletes by the public: how well known they are; their 'likeability'; and how appropriate they are to endorse Australian products, brands and companies.

The results are given in Sweeney Sports' 2008 Beijing Olympic Games Report, the company's fifth post-Olympics report, widely regarded as Australia's most authoritative Olympic sports sponsorship survey.

Swimming team captain Hackett headed the list, the top 10 being completed by cyclist Anna Meares, rower and opening ceremony flag-bearer James Tomkins, and divers Melissa Wu and Matthew Mitcham.

Hackett's top rating indicates that the Australian public ultimately believes that sports stars, to be acceptable as leading sponsors of goods and services, require a stature and maturity as well as sporting achievements.

The survey also found that Olympic sponsors fared well in the chase for awareness during the Beijing Olympic Games, with 66% of Australians aware of sponsors during the Games, the same proportion as recorded after the 2004 Athens Olympics.