Aquatics GB has condemned Team GB Olympic silver medallist Ben Proud retiring from 'traditional swimming' in order to compete at the controversial Enhanced Games next May. 

Created by Australian businessman Aron D'Souza, the Enhanced Games will allow athletes to use performance-enhancing substances without being subjected to drug tests.

Proud, 30, is a former world champion and won his maiden Olympic medal at the third attempt at the Paris Games in 2024, clinching silver in the 50-metre freestyle.

The inaugural Enhanced Games are scheduled to take place in May 2026 in Las Vegas. Cocaine and heroin use will not be permitted.

After Proud's decision was made public, Aquatics GB put out a statement denouncing his move.

"Aquatics GB is immensely disappointed in Ben Proud's announcement to sign with the Enhanced Games," it read.

"Aquatics GB, along with our partners, stand firmly behind the values and principles of clean sport and condemns Ben's decision in the strongest terms.

"A further statement will be issued in due course."

Posting on Instagram, Proud said: "It's time for a shift. I will be retiring from traditional swimming to compete in the Enhanced Games.

"Stepping into a framework that challenges everything we know about performance, and a chance to chase the outer edge of human potential with the tools and possibilities of our time.

"This is where my next chapter begins."

Jane Rumble, UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) chief executive said Proud's decision risks undermining sporting integrity.

"It is incredibly disappointing that any British athlete would consider competing in an event that flies in the face of the true spirit of sport," she said.

"Any decision by any athlete to compete in the Enhanced Games risks undermining the values of a sporting landscape that prizes hard work, integrity, pure talent and 100 per cent clean sport.

"It's a landscape UK Anti-Doping works hard to protect, so it is with deep concern for all clean athletes, and all those who love sport, that the event may go ahead, with any British athlete saying they will take part.

"It is an undertaking that diminishes, rather than 'enhances', all those involved." 

A spokesperson for elite sport funding body UK Sport said: "UK Sport condemns everything the Enhanced Games stands for in the strongest possible terms.

"We believe it risks compromising athlete health and welfare, undermines the trust of fans and is the absolute antithesis to our philosophy of winning well. We are incredibly disappointed to learn that any British athlete in one of our Olympic or Paralympic programmes would support such an event.

"We are engaging with our colleagues at Aquatics GB as a matter of urgency to determine Ben Proud's suitability to receive public funds.

"It is clear however that any breach of anti-doping rules is contrary to the policies which any athlete must comply with to receive UK Sport funding."

A statement on the Enhanced Games website saw Proud state: "My ambition has always been to be the fastest man on the planet. I've spent years striving for that within traditional sport, but my motivations have shifted.

"Now, I want to focus on performance at its highest level and challenge myself in new ways. The Enhanced Games gives me that chance - to test the limits of human potential with the tools and possibilities of our time."

Proud won gold in the 2022 World Aquatics Championships in the 50-metre freestyle, having previously become world champion in 2017 in the same event, and is a multiple Commonwealth Games champion.

Of the Enhanced Games concept, UK Anti-Doping said last year its mission was "to protect sport from doping cheats," adding: "There is no place in sport for performance-enhancing drugs, nor the Enhanced Games."

A venture capital fund - which includes US President Donald Trump's son Jr and billionaire entrepreneur Peter Thiel - has backed the concept.

World Athletics president Lord Coe previously commented that taking part would be "moronic" and any competitor would face a "lengthy ban".

Greek swimmer Kristian Gkolomeev - a former World Championship silver medallist and European champion - Ukrainian swimmer Andriy Govorov - who holds the world record for the 50m butterfly - and Bulgaria's Josif Miladinov - a European silver medallist in the 100m butterfly - have also announced they will be a part of the Enhanced Games

Australian former world champion James Magnussen came out of retirement to join the Enhanced Games in 2024.