As at the conclusion of today’s session of heats New Zealand will have swum in eleven of eighteen heats. So far no one has made a semi-final or final. That does not reflect any lack of effort or potential on the part of the swimmers involved. It certainly does not reflect badly on Gary Francis either. It is no secret that I am no great fan of Gary’s lists and Millennium training camps, but he has been instrumental in abolishing the centralised training policy that has brought swimming to its knees. His presence in Korea to witness New Zealand’s problems is understandable and valid.

But what I do not understand or accept is why on earth Steve Johns is swanning about on a corporate Korean junket? What on earth valid reason is there for him to be anywhere near a world championship swimming pool? I doubt he has any understanding of what’s going on. How much has this cost us all? My guess for a week in Korea is $4000 or $5000 – for what? He sits in that Antares Place office being paid a fortune and demanding swimmers pay their own way to a world short course championship and shouts himself a fully-funded trip that, in my view, achieves nothing. The whole thing is disgusting.

So what did Steve Johns see today? Was the cost of his trip money well spent? Did New Zealand swimming make progress on day five of the championship – Thursday 25 July 2019?

New Zealand had the women’s 4×200 freestyle relay in the pool – the team was Fairweather, Doyle, Edwards and Thomas. The team failed to make the final. The team was tenth, 7.36s away from the New Zealand record. Their ranking improved from 14 to 10. After today’s heats the teams PB ratio is one PB from eleven swims or 9.1%; not good at all.

The team was 7.28s (1.5%) behind qualifying for the final.

The eleven swims by New Zealand swimmers on the first five days have averaged 1.7% behind the time required to progress to the next round.

The New Zealand record in the women’s 4x200m freestyle of 7:55.92, would have qualified eighth for the final.

Thursday 25 July

New Zealand’s participation in the 2019 World Championship is now almost at half way. Has Swimming New Zealand (SNZ), in the words of its esteemed leader, taken “The opportunity to show the world how good they are?” Or is it more of the same, heat swims followed by an evening spent watching the world swim in championship finals. At this point it seems Steve Johns is right. He is showing the world how good we are. And it’s not pretty.

But with three days to go, who knows? Perhaps we should not rush to judgement.  After all who would have predicted the turnaround in Netball New Zealand’s fortunes in their world championship? Perhaps Steve Johns knows something that’s hidden from the rest of the world. In three days we will know.

Talking about netball I got an email yesterday that asked an interesting question about netball funding. This is what it said. “Is there some way that the netball team can receive retrospective payment for becoming world champions? Sport NZ throws a fair bit of cash around on some sports whose best members are nowhere near world class.”

I can’t imagine what sport the email’s author was referring too. Perhaps the chlorinated water dripping out of the email was a clue. In 2017 and 2018 Netball New Zealand received $2.4 million each year from Sport NZ and High Performance Sport New Zealand. That seems like a pretty generous payment. But it certainly needs to increase as a result of the world championship win. I would increase their payment by $1.5 million and spend $300,000 on keeping the coach, Noeline Taurua, and the $1.2 million balance on paying the sport’s top 12 players $100,000 each. It’s about time the players in Netball were properly rewarded. Like SNZ, Netball’s Head Office fat cats have been paid too much for too long.

The problem in New Zealand sport generally is the percentage of income paid to players compared to administration. Even good sports like rugby only pay 30% to their players. Swimming of course is New Zealand’s best example of what not to do. Steve Johns lives like a king while Daniel Hunter gets nothing. Netball is better than swimming but not much. If ever, “workers of the world unite” had relevance – it applies perfectly to New Zealand sport. Organisations like the ISL are showing us that the minimum acceptable ratio of player payments to administration is 50/50.

So did New Zealand swimming make progress on day four of the championship – Wednesday 24 July 2019?

Two of New Zealand’s more experienced swimmers were in the pool – Hunter and Ashby. Neither swimmer made a semi-final or final in their event. Hunter was 0.67s away from his PB. His ranking dropped from 33 to 37. Ashby was 0.37 slower than his personal best time. His ranking improved from 21 to 18. After two days the teams PB ratio is one PB from ten swims or 10%; not good at all.

Hunter was 1.01s (2.0%) behind qualifying for the semi-final.

Ashby was 0.2s (0.2%) behind qualifying for the final.

The ten swims by New Zealand swimmers on the first four days have averaged 1.7% behind the time required to progress to the next round.

The New Zealand record in the men’s 100m freestyle of 49.11, held by Daniel Hunter, would have also failed to qualify for the final. Ashby’s New Zealand record in the 200m IM of 1:59.24 would have qualified for the semi-final in 12^th place.

Wednesday 24 July

If any sport demonstrates the point I have been trying to make about Swimming New Zealand (SNZ), it is netball. If you do not believe me read the Kevin Norquay headline on the Stuff news website – “Noeline Taurua has Silver Ferns back as a world force, in defiance of Netball NZ bungles”.

What has happened in netball is as obvious as it is in swimming. In netball an incompetent administration was making success impossible. A good coach, Janine Southbey, failed because of appalling administration.  What did netball do? They replaced the administrators and appointed an attack dog coach who demanded change. Taurua overturned things that had been forbidden in the old regime. Players were allowed to play in the Australian League. The captain was dropped and fought her way back to play. A new captain who lived and played in Australia was appointed. Experienced players were brought back into the fold. Sacred cows were slaughtered all over the place. A good coach took control and demanded obedience.

Swimming on the other hand took a different path. Two administrators (Cotterill and Johns) who have ruled over the decline of swimming have stayed the same. A new “coach” has been brought in. He knows reform is needed. He knows what’s right. He changed the destructive centralised training policy (although I’m not sure whether Francis made that change or SNZ ran out of the money to pay for it). But Francis is no Taurua. He is not the attack dog SNZ needs. He is way too nice for that. He is more like Steve Johns’ pet Poodle.

It would be a lovely world if reform could come in the caring, sharing environment so obviously preferred by Gary Francis. If swimming is to improve at the speed it needs to, changes have to be nasty, brutish and short. Johns and Cotterill have to be sacked. A new management has to be appointed. And Francis has to change breed and demand obedience.

So did New Zealand swimming make progress on day three of the championships – Tuesday 23 July 2019?

Two swimmers were in the pool – Fairweather and Reid. Neither swimmer made a semi-final or final in their event. Reid was only six one hundreds away from his PB and improved his ranking from 24 to 20; a good swim. Fairweather was 0.31 slower than her personal best time. Her swim improved her ranking from 26 to 19; also a good swim. After two days the teams PB ratio is one from eight swims or 12.5%; not good at all.

Fairweather was 0.50s (0.4%) behind qualifying for the semi-final.

Reid was 9.34s (2.0%) behind qualifying for the final.

The eight swims by New Zealand swimmers on the first three days have averaged 1.8% behind the time required to progress to the next round.

The New Zealand record in the men’s 800m freestyle of 7.56.14, held by Mathew Hutchins, would have also failed to qualify for the final. Lauren Boyle’s New Zealand record in the 200m freestyle of 1:56.82 would have qualified in 6^th place for the semi-final.

Before discussing the swimming it is relevant to send a message to Swimming New Zealand (SNZ). Schedules of the World Championship programme sent out by email to all SNZ members need to be checked; need to be correct.

Yesterday, two of New Zealand’s younger swimmers swam their first events at the World Championships. Today three of the more experienced swimmers are centre stage. Galyer may not be all that experienced at swimming for New Zealand but has been raised in the cut throat world of American swimming. That counts as experience enough.

Yesterday we saw that the performances by New Zealand swimmers were between 2% and 2.5% behind qualifying for finals. Gary Francis is sensibly telling New Zealand that good results are going to take time. He is too polite to add that the damage done by SNZ’s centralised training policy is not an overnight fix. In insurance terms SNZ has driven the sport over a cliff. The sport is a right-off. Gary Francis knows that but has decided to try and repair the damage anyway.

I have long said SNZ’s problem is that Gary Francis knows what needs to be done but is too nice to demand obedience. Add that to the blind ignorance, in my opinion, of his bosses and the whole thing is an uphill battle. The skilled mechanic is being bossed about by a couple of oily rags.

No discussion of the Championships would be complete without mentioning three surprising events on the first night of finals. First, the victory of Ariane Titmus in the 400m freestyle. For years Katie Ledecky has been unbeatable but on this occasion the American had to accept a silver medal behind the Australian’s Oceania Record of 3:58.76. And second, Adam Peaty’s semi-final world record of 56.88 in the 100m breaststroke. Amazing. He went through the first 50m in 26.63. The New Zealand record for 50m breaststroke on its own is 27.06. And third, Steve Johns said New Zealand was going to show the world how good we are. I guess that’s right. In the men’s 50m fly a New Zealand record would have still been 0.2s too slow to make the championship final.

So did New Zealand swimming make progress on day two of the championships – Monday 22 July 2019?

Three swimmers were in the pool – Ashby, Galyer and Stanley. No one made a final or semi-final in their event. Galyer swam a  PB in the 100 backstroke and improved her ranking from 40 to 30; a good swim. Stanley and Ashby were slower than their personal best times. After two days the teams PB ratio is one from six or 17%.

Galyer was 0.87s (1.4%) behind qualifying for the semi-final.

Ashby was 0.95s (1.7%) behind qualifying for the semi-final.

Stanley was 2.30s (2.1%) behind qualifying for the semi-final.

The six swims by New Zealand swimmers on the first two days have averaged 2.0% behind the time required to progress to the next round.

Gareth Kean’s New Zealand record in the 100m back would have ranked him 5^th in the heats. Emily Thomas’ New Zealand record in the women’s 100 back would have qualified 12^th in the heats. Mathew Stanley’s New Zealand record of 1:47.09 would have still not made the semi-final.

I imagine this first report could have been called, “Let the Games begin.” I heard Gary Francis being interviewed on Radio Sport yesterday morning. He is doing a great and certainly realistic job of lowering public expectations. Without allocating blame for a decade of Swimming New Zealand (SNZ) abuse he persuasively argues that good things will take time – time measured in years rather than months. I agree with that thought. Repairing the damage caused by SNZ’s centralised policy will be no quick fix.

The problem Francis faces is not convincing the New Zealand public that the new club-based policy is a better option but will take time. His problem is dealing with the competing message being peddled by his boss. While Francis is properly telling New Zealand to be patient, Steve Johns has verbal incontinence telling anybody who will listen how stunningly good at swimming New Zealand has become. According to Johns the New Zealand team is about to show the world how good they are. Expectations set that high are suicidal.

The competing messages make us a laughing stock. Steve Johns should shut up and let someone, like Gary Francis, who has an understanding of the sport explain what’s going on. At least that would give the appearance of a sport that knows something about what its doing.

This is not the first time SNZ has published opposite stories just days apart. For example the SNZ lawyer told me the other day that the Marris Report had found me guilty of crimes that carry a 17 year maximum jail sentence. I doubt that the SNZ lawyer is telling the truth. I prefer to take the word of Bruce Cotterill, the SNZ Chairman, who said, “If there was anything in that report which justified Swimming NZ taking action against any party involved in the review, we most certainly would have done so.” SNZ’s lawyer and its Chairman and Steve Johns and Gary Francis should really make an effort to be more consistent in their opinions. Right now Antares Place resembles Monty Python’s Flying Circus.

So what happened on day one of the 2019 World Championship – Sunday 21 July? Who was right, Francis or Johns? Was the Francis’ message of caution accurate? Was Johns’ tall tale properly filed as sporting fiction?

Three New Zealand swimmers competed in the heats – Fairweather, Hunter and Reid. Gary Francis is right. Good things take time. The good news is that Reid and Fairweather improved their ranking. The bad news is that no one managed to swim a PB.

Fairweather was 5.2seconds (2.3%) from qualifying for the final.

Hunter was 0.58 seconds (2.4%) from qualifying for the semi-final.

Reid was 4.9 (2.1%) from qualifying for the final.

Between 2% and 2.5% behind the world is a pretty accurate description of where New Zealand swimming stands just now. But things might improve. Let’s see what happens tomorrow. The table below summarises New Zealand’s swims on Sunday 21 July 2019.