Twenty years ago, I began complaining about the policy direction of Swimming New Zealand (SNZ). I identified three features of SNZ’s plans that would not work.

• Abandoning democracy in favor of stacking the Board with Sport NZ appointees.
• Centralised training.
• A lack of trade union style athlete representation.

And then, for 20 years, I wrote over one million words pushing, shoving and pleading for anyone who would listen to understand why those issues were so important. Needless to say, my concern was not well received. One Chairman used the SNZ Annual Report to question my credibility. According to him my views were due no respect at all. And so, he continued spending $1.2 million every year for nothing. Another chairman told a New Zealand judicial Tribunal I had spent twenty years being critical of everything SNZ had done. That was a lie. Nothing written in the twenty years had changed. Every word addressed one of the three issues identified at the beginning of this post. The only change was the ever-increasing waste. In the end SNZ spent $32million on their fool’s errand.

Finally, Nick Tongue, someone who knew about swimming, took over the Board and change occurred. Centralised training was dropped. Democracy and a trade union still had to be addressed. But one reform achieved was an important step in the right direction.

They say good things take time, but who would ever have thought that meant twenty years, $32million and one million words.

What a difference that step has made. Someone in the mainstream media should investigate the transformation that has taken place at SNZ. It is a happier, more vibrant, more independent and more successful place. And that is with only one change. Imagine what the new day will bring when the democracy and trade union issues are also addressed.

Normally I would avoid rehashing all this history. However, it is relevant when good people involved in sport keep making the same mistakes. For example, on the Stuff website today Zoe George reports that, Canterbury-based former Cycling NZ board member Kevin Searle is calling for the resignation of the current Cycling NZ Board following the release of a review into the sport.

I do not know Kevin Searle, but he sounds like a pretty decent sort of bloke. He resigned from the Board of Cycling NZ after the first Heron Report achieved nothing. Now that the second Heron Report has confirmed the Boardroom neglect Searle wants the rest of the Board to follow his example and resign.

AND EVEN IF IT HAPPENED THAT WOULD ACHIVE NOTHING.

Sure, the Board are negligent, incompetent and dumb as a post. But getting rid of them will change nothing. Their replacements will be as bad. Three or four new Raelene Castle toadies will still run the show. While the lack of democracy continues Searle’s game of musical chairs will only succeed in replacing bad with bad. The constitution, the policy of Castle’s money buying Board room power has to change. Sport NZ and its leader are a scourge. While Castle has power, Searle’s plan is simply using a band aid to cure cancer.

Swimming, cycling and every other sport need to elect fully democratic Boards. Only when national sporting organisations have Boards that are democratically responsible to the members will the necessary care and responsibility materialise. If Board members are to care about the membership, they must owe their position to the membership. While the majority of each Board is appointed by the monstrosity of Sport NZ and Castle, expecting competent and compassionate leadership is a miserable fantasy. Surely I do not have to write another million words to make that point.

It was a Saturday 16 July 1977. Alison and I were having dinner with Dick Quax at the House on the Bridge in Eton. Ten days before, in Stockholm, Dick had broken the World Record for 5000m in a time of 13.12.9. I was feeling pleased with life. Earlier that afternoon I’d been for a run with Dick around Windsor Great Park. Forever I will tell the story of the day I kept up with the 5000m World Record holder.

After dinner Dick was puffing on a cigar and over a glass of port was telling us about his negotiations with track meet promoters. He said, “David, you must understand. It’s the golden rule. The man with the gold sets the rules.”

Dick was right. And in New Zealand today the woman with the gold is setting the rules. And they are rotten to the core. Only when we change that will sport improve. When we bring back elected representatives of the members setting the rules, only then will Olivia Podmore’s death be honorably addressed.