By David

Here at Swimwatch we have a soft spot for the writing of Massachusetts Institute of Technology philosopher, Noam Chomsky. That is hardly surprising. He is the eighth most cited source of all time and is considered the most cited living author. Perhaps he had Swimming New Zealand in mind when he wrote:

“Those who do not rise to the minimal moral level of applying to themselves the standards they apply to others plainly cannot be taken seriously when they speak of appropriateness of response; or of right and wrong, good and evil.”

I am constantly reminded of this thought when I consider Cameron’s New Zealand High Performance regime. She has created a culture of divine right. She has brilliantly peddled the tale that her Millennium Institute is New Zealand’s sole source of swimming excellence. Her coaches are better, her standards are higher and her results are without peer. As some of New Zealand’s best swimmers leave to train in foreign programs I’m picking her celestial authority will soon go global. It will not take long for her to pass judgment on the foreign coaches chosen by some of New Zealand’s best swimmers?

Sadly, the whole thing is a fabrication, a falsehood, a pile of cock and bull. At Olympic Games after Olympic Games Cameron has spent our money and returned with nothing. She is an ex-school teacher without a snowball’s chance in hell of delivering on her promise to the nation that pays her wages. I’m certain that won’t stop her casting her critical stare over the foreign and domestic coaches some New Zealand swimmers have chosen ahead of Cameron’s increasingly irrelevant Millennium program.

Actaually the thought of Cameron questioning the value of any world class training facility would be both bizarre and hilariously funny. It would be a bit like an extra at the Glen Eden Playhouse Theatre questioning the acting skills of Meryl Streep.

Take Hayley Palmer and Lauren Boyle for example. Palmer is coached by Randy Reese and Boyle swims in San Francisco with Terri McKeever. In the time Cameron has won nothing at an Olympic Games and seen not one world record, the coaches of these two special New Zealand swimmers have shown us what good coaches can achieve.

Here is what the Cal website has to say about Terri McKeever’s achievements.

“In the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing six of McKeever’s pupils competed and three came away with a total of eight medals, including the greatest women’s swimmer in Cal history – Natalie Coughlin – with six, and Emily Silver and incoming freshman Sara Isakovic of Slovenia each with one. In addition to that historical milestone, McKeever is proud to have trained the best of the best. McKeever helped guide Coughlin to 11 Olympic medals, including three gold, alumna Haley Cope to a silver medal and the entire U.S. swimming team to 28 medals, including 12 gold. McKeever also coached Staciana Stitts, who became the first Cal woman swimmer to earn an Olympic gold medal since Mary T. Meagher in 1984, when Stitts was a member of the United States’ gold medal-winning 400-meter medley relay at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.”

And remember McKeever did all this while Cameron won us nothing.

Hayley Palmer’s new coach also has a pretty impressive Resume. Here is what Wikipedia have to say about Randy Reese.

“Randy Reese is best known for coaching the Florida Gators swimming and diving teams to four national championships, and coaching the winners of eighteen Olympic gold, eight silver and eight bronze medals. Reese is a member of the International Swimming Hall of Fame. His U.S. Swimming team, Florida Aquatic Swim Team (FAST) and Holmes Lumber Aquatic Swim Team were among the best in United States club history and collectively won fourteen national team championships. Reese’s individual swimmers set sixteen world records, including five world records by Tracy Caulkins, four by Rowdy Gaines, two by each of Martin López-Zubero, Craig Beardsley and Dara Torres, and one by Duncan Armstrong.”

And remember Reese did all this while Cameron won us nothing.

All this inevitably brings us back to the moral standard set by Noam Chomsky. Remember? “Those who do not rise to the minimal moral level of applying to themselves the standards they apply to others plainly cannot be taken seriously when they speak of appropriateness of response; or of right and wrong, good and evil.”

Perhaps Cameron does not understand. What this means, Jan Cameron, is when you look at the record of McKeever and Reese you should apply the same standard to your own record. That is the obligation of a moral person. While these two coaches were winning 45 Olympic medals and breaking 17 world records what were you doing? Are you applying the same standard to yourself as you apply to others? Because, if you are not you simply, “cannot be taken seriously”. You lose the authority to speak of swimming “right and wrong, good and evil”.

To rise to a minimal moral level you need to recognize your barren record. Looking at your Olympic results would you employ yourself? Would you allocate SPARC funding to a swimmer choosing your program? Are you applying the same standard to yourself as you apply to others? Clearly we don’t think so, which is why we think you have forfeited the moral authority to head New Zealand’s High Performance program.

I don’t know, but I suspect Noam Chomsky would think it was time you were gone.