By David

Regular Swimwatch readers will not be surprised to hear that I see no merit in the centralized delivery of elite training as practiced by the Millennium Institute. After almost a decade and millions of dollars of trying Jan Cameron never made it work. No one else will either. There are many reasons that explain the failings of centralized, socialist sport’s delivery. Two reasons are more important than the others.

First, the Millennium Institute asphyxiates the oxygen that makes competitive sport work. It kills competition. In an individual sport, when the state indulges in blatant poaching, the competitive nature of the sport becomes a mockery. New Zealand’s coaches are relegated to the position of second class citizens. Centralized delivery leaves the impression that the finest coaches are at the Millennium Institute employed by Swimming New Zealand. Less able coaches are everywhere else. Swimming New Zealand’s website proudly claims that their Institute best provides selected swimmers with “international level coaching, gym membership, training equipment and individualised training plans and evaluations”. Swimming New Zealand doesn’t say that it alone provides these services. They certainly infer it though. Well, Swimming New Zealand, there are many of us who do exactly the same thing, and do it better.

Second, there are many ways of producing an Olympic champion. In the United States there are 38 swimmers on their national team. They are coached at 22 different programs, by 22 different coaches. Bowman is hugely different from Salo, who has nothing in common with Dara Torres’ program in Coral Spring’s, who could not be more different from Amanda Weir’s coach in Atlanta. Diversity is America’s strength. In New Zealand, any swimmer wanting to access assistance from the state has to choose between the two Millennium coaches, Regan and Talbot. But what say neither of their programs suits a good swimmer. What say my 100 kilometres a week is what a swimmer finds best. Why should that deny the athlete state financial aid? The socialist delivery of international main stream sport is fatally flawed – especially when one of the coaches has the spectre of nepotism hanging over his appointment.

All this is a real concern just now because the regime that will replace Cameron’s folly is still being debated. One of the best officials in Auckland is a guy called Jim Swanson. He is the Chairman of the Mt Eden Swimming Club and a Board member of Auckland Swimming. Between 9.00 and 5.00 he is the Chief Information Officer at Watercare Services Limited in Auckland. In his resume on the Swimming New Zealand website he says his “management style is open and inclusive”. I agree with that. At most swim meets he wanders up to the West Auckland Aquatics area and has a chat about current events in New Zealand swimming. I appreciate that gesture. There are many in swimming who would rather meet Lucifer than discuss anything with “that horrible” coach from west Auckland.

Last weekend, during Swanson’s visit to the West Auckland Aquatic’s camp site, I raised the subject of the Millennium Institute. As you would expect, I was making the case that elite swimming should become the responsibility of every New Zealand coach – including those at Swanson’s Mt. Eden Club. Free enterprise delivery should replace Millennium socialism. I was concerned to hear that Swanson did not agree. “No” he said, “there are some swimmers who thrive best in a centralized Millennium structure.”

Now, that is just tree hugging political correctness run riot. Jim Swanson has no evidence to support his ridiculous assertion. They are empty words mumbled to impress rather than edify. He is making the argument that for some swimmers diversified free enterprise delivery of elite training, works best. For others the Millennium Institute is utopia. That way he clearly believes he will be popular with “rebellious” coaches like me and will keep the leaders of Swimming New Zealand and SPARC happy as well. Like most administrators, who do not understand the demands of elite sport, Jim Swanson fails to appreciate that compromise does not win Olympic championships. It may be fine for delivering Watercare Services information but compromise has no place in international sport. After a decade of unfettered access to all New Zealand’s best swimmers Jan Cameron never found a swimmer that thrived best in her Millennium palace – especially if “best” is defined as winning an Olympic or World Championship title.

My advice to Jim Swanson is to cut out the crap, stop making decisions on the grounds of what you believe will be popular. Swimming New Zealand and especially its elite performers need Board members, who can listen to the competing arguments, weight the evidence and will do what’s right. Jan Cameron was wrong, as wrong as all hell, but she did not compromise. She did what she thought would work without concession. Jan Cameron was wrong but she was strong. The strong part is something Jim Swanson needs to learn.

After all, he is playing with swimmer’s lives. Anyone who gets up at 5.00am six mornings a week, swims 100 kilometres a week, lifts 20 tonnes in a gym each month, suffers chlorine burns that stain bed sheets red at night and tolerates hacking coughs that last for weeks, deserves administrators prepared to ignore what’s popular and do what’s right. This is not a popularity contest. This is about creating the structure that best nurtures the talents of New Zealand’s finest swimmers. On that Swanson must not compromise. Right now, Jim Swanson is vacillating on the very principles that require uncompromising strength. Swimming New Zealand needs people like Jim Swanson. However he will be no use to this sport if he fails to deliver a method of coaching elite swimming that liberates New Zealand’s coaches and makes them responsible for producing world championship swimmers. He must forget what is popular and do what is right.

There has never been anything wrong with the SNZ concept of “excellence in every pool”. Danyon Loader came from Dunedin; Rod Dixon won an Olympic medal training in Nelson; Anna Simcic broke a world record living in Christchurch; Russell Coutts honed his sailing skills in Dunedin. Diversified free enterprise delivery is best. It would be a very sad day for swimming in New Zealand if Jim Swanson was to set about watering down that concept. I won’t tell him how to deliver water to Auckland City if he backs off telling us how to deliver elite sport. That is a coaching job and he would do well to listen and learn.