What does it take to be banned from Facebook? Remember Donald Trump did enough. At the time Facebook reported that, “experts will work together to assess the damage that Trump could do if his account is reinstated. If we determine that there is still a serious risk to public safety, we will extend the restriction and continue to re-evaluate until that risk has receded.”

Does anyone reading Swimwatch know someone at Facebook who could make the same evaluation of the rubbish posted on the Kiwi Swimming Facebook page. Oh, I don’t think that page is going to motivate anyone to storm the walls of Antares Place. I can’t see Kiwi Swimming motivating a disgruntled Bay of Plenty member to put his feet up on Steve Johns’ desk. I doubt Kiwi Swimming has enough of anything to cause a sullen Wellington member to break the glass door into Gary Francis’ office to steal his laptop. Even tying Swimming New Zealand staff to the Millennium Pools’ plastic chairs and re-enacting the Salem witch trials is beyond Kiwi Swimming.

But really – while the rubbish published on the Kiwi Swimming Facebook page might not rise to the heights of a Donald Trump rally, most of it, in my opinion, is disjointed, illogical and bad for swimming. Oh, like Trump supporters, I can hear Kiwi Swimming followers demanding to know whether I’ve ever heard of free speech. There will be some who make the case that irrespective of the damage Kiwi Swimming might cause its views should still be heard.

Believe me I do understand that. Very few have fought Swimming New Zealand (SNZ) as hard as I have. In the early 1990s I took them as far as the High Court and won. That case secured the right for Club coaches to coach swimmers at the National Championships. Prior to that only one coach per region was allowed on the pool-deck. That was a battle worth fighting.

But this stuff on Kiwi Swimming is not in that category. It really isn’t. The sport of swimming and the Antares Place staff do not deserve this trivial Kiwi Swimming nonsense. It is rubbish and it causes harm.

There is no need to call Steve Johns, a “scarecrow”. He’s not. I don’t agree with everything SNZ does especially if their plans for learn to swim are as bad as I think. But Steve Johns is not a scarecrow. In fact, when you get to know them, Steve Johns and Gary Francis are good guys. They certainly know more about swimming than the “scarecrow” who writes Kiwi Swimming. Besides Steve Johns is about 6 foot 2 inches tall. Some scarecrow, I’d say.

And then the Kiwi Swimming Facebook page says, “this is what happens when you have a sport with no vision and no plan. Swimming is that sport.” That’s not true either. The only one with no vision around here is the author of Kiwi Swimming. 

I’m no expert on Wellington swimming clubs. But the putrid posts on Kiwi Swimming went way too far in September when Kiwi Swimming had a shot at clubs who didn’t have swimmers attend national championship meets. In the view of the genius author of Kiwi Swimming this meant there was “no point even being registered as a competitive swimmer.”

Now that is dangerous. That hurts swimming. If swimming was the US capital that opinion is the same as beating up the police, stealing a laptop and putting your feet up on a desk. I was taught to swim at the Haitaitai Club who seldom had swimmers attend national competitions but probably taught more children to swim and saved more lives than any club in the country. For years I swam in the Wairoa Swimming Club. It also seldom has members attend national meets. But the value it provides to the town in learn to swim and modest competitive swimmers is beyond measure.

When I was responsible for Wellington City learn to swim and competitive swimming, we taught 1900 lessons every week. Included in that 1900 were national champions like Toni Jeffs, Michelle Burke and Mark Haumona. But by far and away our biggest contribution was the 1800 who would never swim in a national competition.     

And then Facebook’s Kiwi Swimming tells the world this, “The region’s second and fifth most powerful clubs – in terms of voting rights at a Swimming Wellington General Meeting – have no competitive swimmers at all.” What on God’s good earth is wrong with that? Their voting rights are clearly based on the fantastic job they do teaching children to swim. Probably the only income they receive is the swimmer’s registration. And Kiwi Swimming slags this off by wanting their voice at the AGM silenced. And that is literally, deadly dangerous. Children could drown because of that attitude.

So, Mr. Zuckerberg, if you are listening, “Ban the Bugger”.  

Every professional journalist and every author of an amateur blog should write a short opinion on COVID-19 vaccinations. Whether their specialty is sport, the arts, Hollywood gossip or politics, vaccinations for COVID-19 are too important to silently sit on the fence saying nothing. And so here is what I think.

I am not going to spend any effort writing about the morons who believe Bill Gates has a microchip in every vaccine dose or that vitamin C kills COVID-19. Truth is, I’m jealous of those who have never heard this rubbish.

However, I do understand those who are concerned that a compulsion to vaccinate is an infringement of their personal liberty. In this case, I do not agree, but I do understand. Why, you may be asking. Well, I was brought up in a family where personal freedom was a priority. My grandfather fought all through WW1 in the Royal Navy for that concept. My father left an arm and an eye in Italy defending the same freedom. Our family debated the compulsory use of seatbelts for months. Was that an unnecessary infringement of our personal liberty? I went to school in the United States and every morning listened to my classmates recite a pledge that ended with the words, “with liberty and justice for all.” I fought Swimming New Zealand (SNZ) for twenty-five years over the personal freedoms that were diminished when they introduced centralised competitive coaching. I will fight them for another twenty-five years if they try the same trick with learn to swim.

And so, yes, I do understand the personal liberty argument. However ……….

There are occasions, and this is one of them, where the utilitarian argument that the “greatest good for the greatest number” trumps the demands of even something as important as personal liberty. Wearing seatbelts was one of those. SNZ’s invasion of competitive coaching was not.

It is important to decide each case on its merits. Because some action results in the “greatest good for the greatest number” does not make it right. For example, protecting the freedom of a minority can be just as important. Take black slavery in the southern United States for example. Clearly black slavery provided the “greatest good for the greatest number”. The majority white population prospered. But that certainly did not make slavery right.

And so, in the case of this vaccine, is the “greatest good for the greatest number” more important that the personal liberty of a few standouts. In my view the answer is, yes. The scourge of COVID-19 is so severe. The benefit of the vaccine is so overwhelming that in this case personal liberty can be compromised. My life and health, my town’s life and health, my country’s life and health, my world’s life and health more than justify the minor infringement of my liberty. Like seatbelts the “greatest good for the greatest number” is the proper and only decision.

But how far should our acceptance of the “greatest good for the greatest number” allow us to go? Should New Zealand be limited to the persuasion, advertising and incentives that are being used now? Should compulsion be allowed?

In this case my view is that the dangers of COVID-19 are so great, the benefits of vaccination so clear and the loss of liberty so minor that compulsion is more than justified. I have no problem with the Millennium Institute pool making vaccinations a condition of entry. Their gym should do the same. The same precondition should apply to pubs, cafes, shops and public transport. Normal life should become vaccination dependent.

For those who want to protect their personal liberty let them stay at home, let them get their vaccinated mates to bring them bottles of Vitamin C and let them protect their life and liberty at home.

In my High School in Wisconsin, my American History teacher, Mr. Fleming was discussing the 1775 speech of American revolutionary Patrick Henry. Referring to the British, Henry said, “Give me liberty or give me death”. Mr. Fleming laconically said, “Nothing is worth dying for.” Well, if he is wrong and there are things worth dying for, COVID-19 is certainly not one of them.

GO GET THE SHOT.    

I was reminded of a simple logic puzzle when a friend of mine asked if I had read the Kiwi Swimming Facebook post about Swimming New Zealand (SNZ) asking Counties’ Clubs to join either the Auckland or Waikato Regions. I will be sad to see Counties go. Many outstanding people have run that Region for a very long time. In fact, the management of its clubs is better than the options Counties is being asked to join. If anything, Auckland and Waikato should both be told to join Counties.

However, mergers are the way of the world. Auckland City did it. National water is on its way. We are all going to have better health when regional health boards are a thing of the past. And so Counties, suck it up, decide which Region you dislike the least and start making plans to take over their administration. You will do a better job than is being done now. Everyone will benefit.

I think one word of caution is important. Watch like a hawk what happens to Counties’ money. It seems like Counties have about $57,000 in the bank. That money was hard earned by some good Counties’ clubs and that is where it should stay. Make sure the way Wairarapa’s money disappeared into Wellington’s hungry little hands does not happen here. Because make no mistake those who manage Auckland and Waikato will have their greedy eyes on Counties’ cheque book.

Be careful of SNZ as well. I can already hear their Board whispering clauses of the Charities regulations and the responsibilities of a parent company. Just remind them that when SNZ is prepared to assume responsibility for a Region in financial trouble, only then can they buy a better Board lunch at Sails Restaurant with Counties’ money.

Personally, I’d make a distribution of the Counties’ money a condition of the merger. The distribution to be decided on the basis of Counties’ club membership numbers. Something like this.

In addition to their cash Counties probably have sone fixed assets, items like touch pads, computers, chairs and the like. Those could be donated to the new Region, I guess. But not without the Counties’ clubs getting the first option. Or the assets could be sold and the proceeds added to the $57,000 for distribution to the clubs. Yes, that’s what I’d do. Sell the assets and distribute the money.

But back to my logic puzzle. As you have probably guessed, I took my friend’s advice and read the Kiwi Swimming Facebook post about the Counties’ merger. I also read the previous post about swimmers missing out on the Age Group Championships. And boy-oh-boy, there is a pile of rubbish posted on that Facebook page. Honestly, I’ve never read the like.

You know, when I was at University, I did a course in logic. One puzzle was, “The day before two days after the day before tomorrow is Saturday. What day is it today?

The answer is Friday, because, the “day before tomorrow” is today; “the day before two days after” is really one day after. So, if “one day after today is Saturday,” then it must be Friday.

Now if you think any of that is the slightest bit complicated just click on the Kiwi Swimming Facebook page and read the stuff written there. Here for example is most of a paragraph about the Age Group Nationals.

“Those of you who were 15 last year may have wanted to do NAGs. NAGs was cancelled in 2020. While it was held this year, who knows what will happen next year when last year’s 15-year-olds will be 17.”

I think what he or she might be trying to say is, because of the COVID19 some swimmers might miss swimming in the National Age Group Championships. From my experience of coaching for a decade in the United States, where there are no Age Group Nationals, missing the New Zealand event could be the biggest plus in a swimmer’s career.

Believe me the Americans do not have a National Age Group Championship for a reason. The meet is bad, bad, bad. Too much pressure at too young an age. Too many inflated egos at too young an age. Too much stimulation for “over-anxious-parents”. And too much of everything for ill-informed Facebook novelists.

The post about the Counties’ merger with Auckland or Waikato is just as bad. Most of it is rambling speculation about COVID19 borders. Although what COVID19 borders have to do with a long-term plan to unify two swimming Regions is hard to imagine. Only Kiwi Swimming could find enough to write a 300-word puzzle about nothing. Perhaps we could do the guy a favour by sending him a Facebook comment that says, “The answer is Friday”.   

My main sources of news are TV1, TV3, Newsroom, and Stuff. I can’t stand Mike Hosking or Heather Du Plessis-Allan . Mind you I introduced this post with the phrase, “main sources of news”. No one could ever describe the party-political broadcasts spewing from Hosking and Du Plessis-Allan as news. New Zealand has a huge reputation for honesty and fairness. A fair crack of the whip is a badge of honor. Not with Hosking and Du Plessis-Allan, it is not. Every day they spew out their right-wing opinions. Right-wing opinions that would do credit to the American Drudge Report or Breitbart News. Balanced people avoid this filth. Jacinda Arden quietly left both broadcasters to wallow in their own muck. And so have I.

But it is not those extremists I want to consider in this post. It is the mainstream that is my interest – TV1, TV3, Newsroom, and Stuff. I do not know whether they too are taking their lead from Hosking and Du Plessis-Allan, not in a right-wing, left-wing sort of way. But in the sense that they will latch on to a favourite topic and right or wrong hammer it to death. This is especially noticeable in sport.

I am not advocating for mainstream journalists to be muzzled in any way. Freedom of the press is vital in a healthy community. But there is a need in New Zealand for that freedom to be balanced, fair and honest. There is concern that responsibility could be slipping. Journalists may be using their position to push personal agendas rather than provide a balanced report of news events. That might be fine for Hosking and Du Plessis-Allan who no one expects to be anything else but one-eyed bigots. But their example is not one good journalist should copy.

Here are three examples of what I mean.  

Lydia Ko – Reporting Lydia Ko’s career is way out of line. She is probably the best example of the sad outcome of distorted reporting. I have moved from an enthusiastic supporter of Ko’s career to a disinterested sceptic. Why? Well, it is certainly not Ko’s fault. It’s because some journalists can’t help but lie about her results. And that sadly rubs off on her. Detailed descriptions of a brilliant, stunning, and career turning shot made from her knees in the USA is followed at the end of the report by the news that she finished the day 20 shots or something behind the leader. We can only take so much of that bad reporting.

For example, Ko ended 2021 ranked 9^th in the world. Certainly nothing wrong with that. Except Tom Walsh ended up 2^nd and Lewis Clareburt ended the year 5^th in the world. Just compare the column inches spent on these two, compared to the forest of trees cut to report the promise Ko was on her way to 1^st.  

The media also did a Lydia Ko on pole vaulter Eliza McCartney. There was a time there when you couldn’t read the sport’s news without Eliza’s leg or foot, hip or arm injury being described. But like Lydia Ko, Eliza was always on her way back. The best was yet to come. She finally failed to qualify for the Tokyo Games and had a best vault for the season of 4.32 compared to the qualifying height of 4.60. and was ranked third in New Zealand. Some reporter did her no favours at all by describing that disaster as “she has struggled over the past year with her emotions.” Excuses like that are bad for everyone. They are especially bad for the reporter who should be looking closely at the hard lessons that come out of a fine athlete’s failure to progress. A good reporter has a duty to accurately report the good and the bad. That is how we all progress. It is not a reporter’s job to make excuses and cover-up the failings of their precious favourite. At the end of her career, I suspect Eliza McCartney will think this journalist is pathetic. And if she doesn’t, she should.    

But the best example of New Zealand press bias is the Waikato and Chiefs rugby teams. This is the most difficult example of sporting favoritism to understand. Why Waikato? Why the Chiefs? I can understand an Auckland bias. Most journalists live there. But Waikato and the Chiefs? Who knows?

But bias there most certainly is. Yesterday there was a classic example. Waikato played Northland. First of all the result was a “shock win” for Northland. Whenever Waikato or the Chiefs lose it is always a shock win for the opposition, even Canterbury. The text reinforces the shock with the description, “monster upset win.” Indeed, how could the country hicks from Northland beat the trained to perfection athletes from the Waikato? But not content with making the point twice in the first paragraph this scribe goes on to explain “the hosts stunned the Premiership leaders.” For God’s sake, three times in the first paragraph. We’ve got the point. The best team lost.

But, oh no this guy needs more. Paragraph two begins, “Only the hardiest Northland fans would have backed them to topple Waikato.” And then “despite a backpedalling scrum,” and “some late wobbles” Northland held on to win. But wait, all is explained at the end. “Waikato were crucially reduced to 14 men for the final 10 minutes.” See, it took 15 men playing for Northland plus the referee to explain the defeat. The final score 38-28. I think Northland won but from the Stuff report I’m still not sure.   

Being a press favourite usually does the target no favors at all. It just makes the athletes, and the reporters look stupid – just like Hosking and Du Plessis-Allan.