Former 200m butterfly Commonwealth champion Moss Burmester has urged Swimming New Zealand not to rush into short-term solutions following top-level resignations in the sport in the past week.

As Jan Cameron left New Zealand and a role as performance head of swimming in the country, she lambasted a Sparc-commissioned Ineson Report into the sport in June as being "fraught with … inaccuracies" and said that her reason for quitting was because Swimming New Zealand had accepted the findings and decided to act on them.

NZ Sports Foundation chief Chris Ineson claimed in the report that SNZ's high performance structure was unsustainable and that feedback from the elite environment was negative. Criticism was levelled in the main at the swimming federation's board but also at Cameron.

Cameron, whose resignation followed hot on the heels of Murray Coulter leaving his post of chairman of the swim federation, told reporters in New Zealand: "It wasn't so much the Ineson Report but Swimming New Zealand's acceptance of it. Even though the Ineson Report is fraught with a lot of inaccuracies and I don't agree with it, it was accepted by Swimming New Zealand and they decided to move on that. Really, the proffered restructure was not as I think it should be so it's time for me to move on."

Cameron, who as Jan Murphy raced to an Olympic silver medal as a member of the Aussie 4x100m freestyle quartet in Tokyo, laid further into Ineson when she said: "I wouldn't employ him to do a report, I don't think many people would from now on. But that's a Sparc decision isn't it, they employed him."

While some have celebrated her departure, others will clearly miss her. "I have about 200 emails of support and texts and stuff like that, from people all around the country and all the world actually. So it's actually quite emotional really, to be feeling that you have that much support and I'm really very humbled and very grateful."

Asked if she felt she had the backing of the majority of New Zealand's elite swimmers, Cameron said: "That would be the case if you take the last few days in and see what's happened here. Yes, it appears so, which is great. I've had great communication from swimmers that have been in the programme over the 20 years I've been here and that's extremely pleasurable for me."

Cameron said she would have no trouble taking a "look in the mirror". She had, she believed, left the sport in a better space than she found it.

Burmester backed that thought when he said: "Jan's done exceptional things for our sport and no one questions her passion and the fact she always wanted the best for her swimmers. Maybe at the end she wasn't going about it the right way but I've had a close working relationship with her and it's sad to see what's unfolding.

"My big hope is that things can be sorted in time for London, and I hope the swimmers focus on themselves and take no notice of the turmoil and issues - that's what the association was formed for, so the athletes don't have to deal with all this crap."

One of the key recommendations in the June report, was an overhaul of the federation's leadership structures and the establishment of a high-performance advisory committee.

The committee wants to create two positions to replace Cameron's role, namely an Olympic campaign manager for London 2012 (nothing too long-term then…) and an athlete support and development manager.

Former 200m butterfly Commonwealth champion Burmester has taken up a role on an athlete advocacy group and urged Swimming New Zealand not to rush into short-term solutions.

Burmester, who is working alongside former teammates Helen Norfolk, Alison Fitch and Cameron Gibson, told reporters in New Zealand: "Now's the time to sit down and think it through, implementing a structure that will work well for the future of swimming in New Zealand, because the danger is a short-term fix whereas we need to be thinking longer term, not just through until the [2012] London Olympics."

Burmester said the Swimmers' Association was against appointing an Olympic campaign manager and, with help from Rob Nichol from the New Zealand Players' Association, had put a detailed submission to Swimming NZ and funding body Sparc on how future roles should be structured. 

"I hope Swimming NZ take a good look at it. With Rob we've looked at a raft of sports, going through their [elite] models and what works and what might work in swimming."

There are plenty of tips to be found too from around the wider world of swimming.