Sadly, there are occasions when Swimming New Zealand (SNZ) is its own worst enemy. Today is one of those occasions. SNZ has folded to the pressure of its small town, amateur and ignorant fringe. SNZ has reversed the decision to exclude coaches from the pool deck at the National Championships. Coaches will be allowed on the pool deck and will be counted in the 100-person limit.

I am distressed about the decision to reverse the original ruling. SNZ has folded to its lunatic fringe. People like Dave Crampton have scored a victory over knowledgeable people at SNZ who should know better. People who do know about swimming, but in this case are wrong, like Horst and the Waterhole coaches have scored a victory that weakens New Zealand swimming.

The original decision was made because of Covid regulations. As was pointed out at the time, a beneficial by-product of the decision was that it provided every coach with the opportunity to teach their swimmers independence. One of the huge differences I noticed between coaching for 15 years in the UK and in the USA was the gulf in maturity between their swimmers and ours. In the UK and USA size and numbers has forced independence. In New Zealand size and numbers has encouraged dependance and immaturity. The lunatic fringe actually promotes the idea that running around after their 13-year-old swimmers is a good thing – a sign of good coaching.

New Zealand has not won a medal at the Olympic Games since Atlanta in 1996. That’s a 26-year drought. And one of the reasons for that is because we send children off to do adult’s work. They stay children because of neanderthal coaching ideas like those promoted on this occasion by teammates, Horst and Crampton.

However, on this occasion, SNZ must share in the blame. SNZ made the right Covid decision. Their rule was also going to mature the sport. The prospect of medals at future Olympics improved by the decision SNZ had taken. And then like a loaf of wet bread SNZ folded. Believe me medals in Paris just got a little further away after the weakness shown by SNZ today. SNZ acknowledged that the lunatic fringe who, remember, have failed to win anything for 26 years, were right. That is not the way to reverse a very bleak history.

What swimming in New Zealand learned today was that if Crampton and Horst scream loud enough Johns, Francis and Tongue will fold. Leadership is about being better than that. Leadership is not a popularity contest. Leadership is about always doing what is in the best interest of the organisation you are serving. Leaders get paid to make the difficult decisions. But many leaders don’t really know how to lead; they waste time trying to satisfy the agendas of others – rather than focusing on the goals and objectives of the organization and people they serve.

On this occasion the leaches and loafers attempted to slow down the momentum of SNZ. And SNZ let them win. Leadership is not easy and handling criticism is an unwritten rule in the job description. It happens often and if you lead to win, you should expect criticism and know how to handle it. 

On this occasion SNZ failed the test of leadership. Sadly, it is not Johns or Francis or Tongue who will pay for the failure. It is the 13-year-olds SNZ has savagely let down. Swimming in New Zealand just got a little poorer today. Thank you, Horst and Crampton. Your legacy will not be forgotten.