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.