Paper covers backstroke swimmer going overseas to meet rivals (5)
I believe the answer is:
fleet
'swimmer going overseas to meet rivals' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this definition defines the answer.
'paper covers backstroke' is the wordplay.
'paper' becomes 'ft' (Financial Times newspaper).
'covers' indicates putting letters inside.
'backstroke' becomes 'lee' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'ft' placed around 'lee' is 'FLEET'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for fleet that I've seen before include "Fast-moving" , "good turn of speed" , "Body of ships" , "Group of vehicles operating together, ships say" , "Swift like navy" .)