Swimming Australia kicking in wrong direction

Marilyn, here in lies the problem. Swimmers should never be put in a situation where there are doubts over payments of public funding. Swimming Australia could have and should have made that information available. They have created an environment where they treat different swimmers differently instead of a stated criteria without the possibility of secret payments / support. It has become clear in recent weeks that many swimmers on the Olympic team are not happy about the differential treatment meated out to them. My complaint is not against any individual swimmer, I know only too well how hard swimmers work. It is against a culture on haves and have nots fostered by an organisation whose charter is the welfare and support of ALL swimmers including juniors. It is against a culture fostered from the top down that breeds discontent born of unfairness and manifests itself in inappropriate behaviour. I wish Libby well in all her endeavours, she is a fantastic ambassador to swimming.

Not one word of criticism of the coaches or the grossly incorrect timing of the trials. It is very obvious that our swimmers are light years behind the other nations in the technical aspects of racing eg diving and turning and have always been thus. Check Susie O'neill v Misty Hyman and Leisel Jones ad infinitum. From my experience coaches particularly at lower levels are more intent on pouring miles into even immature swimmers. The stand at the end of the pool with a white board and say "Go" They rarely or never devote time to Dives etc. Magnussen would have won had he reacted with the winner and turned as well as him. It is time to get rid of the Neanderthals and instal coaches who "Get It" On the timing of the trials, we need to pick our team too early. It disadvantages our younger swimmers, who generally improve very rapidly. Later selection trials gives them a greater chance to mature right up to the event.

To John Hunt, Paul & all those who believe everything they read, I would like to know where you got any factual information about money given to Libby Trickett by Swimming Australia to fund her comeback. In truth she funded her own return, paying her own fees etc and working her way through the ranks just as everyone else must do. She has trained, studied & worked to fulfill her sponsorship commitments and other appearances. She has, over her almost ten year swimming career, done much voluntarily to further her sport and to assist a number of charities. She has always tried to present a positive face of the sport she loves. She has not defended herself against the common belief that she received special funding to come back (perhaps so as not to criticise anyone who had). Still, I feel someone should.

Where is the new youth funding going ? As a parent of a youth swimmer I am yet to see any difference since Age Nationals in April.

I do hope in the review that we do not lose sight of the fact that SA mismanagement of funds leaves no room for money to develop our current athletes let alone our future swimmers. If we want to improve our rankings we need to spend money on development and have consistency between the states. One state has a competition trip to the USA, another a training camp and another state offers the same level swimmer a minimal sum of money to their club for "development". Surely for team unity as well it would be good to develop all future athletes equally.

I agree with your onside. Unfortunately the majority of people don't. They justify the money spent on these athletes by saying they are role models and they change people's lives. Gee, I wish some organisation would give me a research grant to see how many lives have changed for the better after the relay win. What were their names again......? Yes it's a crime that athletes missed out on a lot of money that went to coaches, administration, travel, accommodation, and ex champions who cannot age gracefully......but just refer to what onside says........reality check please athletes. Good on you for competing at the highest level but come on. Someone made the point on Insight last night. A doctor trains and studies for years but no one pays their way.....they do it themselves, and the outcome benefits the health of Australians. Let's have a ticker tape parade for all out health workers, teachers, emergency services workers, volunteers, oh.....and our Olympic athletes too. By the way I can name 6 Collingwood players and I am a diehard NRL fan from QLD.

Hey Punter, I wasn't trying to be a smart Alec mate. I was trying to make the point that many Australians who say they are a fan of swimming actually know very little nothing about the sport .Swimming to most people is something to watch on TV every four years. Sometimes they recognise the champion swimmer whose photo is on the back of the Weeties pack, but have never seen them compete.And as for them remembering the names of the Gold Medal winners, well good luck loved the Collingwood analogy.

Cate Campbell, part of the sister act that represented Australia at the Olympics, Brittany Ellemsie, the youngster, Alicia Coutts, the star of the Olympic swimming team, but unfortunately not the fame, Mel Schanger, daughter of Paul, see above. The great Libby Trickett wa amongst the heat swimmers. Now if you really want a trick question ask most Sydneysiders to name one Collingwood player in Friday's blockbuster?

Did anyone watch Insight last night? Melanie Schlanger received no funding support from Swimming Australia, it all came from her parents. There was obvious discontent within the swimming ranks, even though other sports were represented in the debate last night which was essentially about funding elite athletes. Libby Trickett was not backward in coming forward about the attitude of the mens 4x100m relay team or the lack of team cohesion and support in the swimming ranks. Those sorts of things don't get fixed up with more money but I was somewhat shocked at how little of the massive amounts of funding actually goes into the pockets of the athletes themselves.

The Australian public only care about swimming once every four years Few people follow the sport .You can sit anywhere you want at State Championships. Every four years swimming is amped up by the media for the Olympics. The sport is perfect for TV.Tension added by a blue line denoting either OR or WR. Australians love their swimming champions.But most people have never seen a race live. As a Nation we crave 'fast food' sporting fixes, the instant high of GOLD , without really appreciating the sport. ( most sports not just swimming) Here is a question for your friends; name the girls that won Olympic Gold in the 4 x 100 metres freestyle relay in London.Can't be too difficult can it,if you are interested in swimming Politics and unrest adds fuel to the swimming fire in Australia. Feeding the chooks.

Thanks Paul. As an expat Aussie living and working as a teacher in the States, I watch how swimming is run here from primary school through to college level. I cringe when I see the admin of Swimming Australia.

I have to agree with you, BigAl, now wait, it's swimming, not our favourite football code. We did not win as many golds as our predecessors, but we did win alot of medals that would have surpassed most our swimming teams prior to our little golden era of the last 3 Olympics. Only the US had more finalist than us in the Olympics, so it's just that little gold medal that we are so upset about, but like you said you can't win all the time. Having read also Paul's post above, there are other issues facing swimming today.

Thanks for insight Paul.

Thanks for the attention Punter - how's old Flipflopping... feeling today? To the issue at hand, are you saying what I am thinking - that there is no 'great list of failures' ? My whole point being that it is a bit unseemly to subject a whole group of young people to a form of Spanish Inquisition just because this time round on the whole they were not quite good enough, or as good as their predecessors - you can't win all the time !

Magnussen 'failed' by swimming 1 second slower than his trial time. The other guy that failed was James Roberts, who was 2nd top rating behind Magnussen going into Olympics, he also swan more than 1 second slower than he did in trials. These 2+ seconds were enough to drop us from favourites to 4th place

As a result of all the the soul searching and angst going on re. the Olympics swimming 'failure', I have asked this question here and elsewhere, and I am still in the dark... Who else besides Magnussen and the mens 4x100 ' failed' - i.e. went away with a top ranking but didn't win ? Were expectations just too high ? . . . Anyone? . . . johnhunt92 ?

In response to your story "Swimming Australia kicking in wrong direction". You need to understand the context in which Melanie Schlanger has spoken out on this issue. There is no benefit for her to be embroiled in this debate and she is definitely not complaining about the income that she is receiving personally. She is speaking out in support of all swimmers, most of whom have not said a word..... And that is their choice. Swimming Australia has been treating its swimmers differentially for many, many years. They were dedazzled by a few swimmers during the Ian Thorpe era and focused a lot of money on a select group at the detriment of the rest. The strategy worked well for them. They created high profiles for these swimmers that advantaged them all financially and didn't we love them all. Even in recent times the longing to return to that era was evident in the support for these ex-swimmers. What did it produce? Failed comebacks. But leading up to the Olympic qualifying Australian Championships this year all the familliar faces were plastered on posters again. How much money was poured into them for no long term gain. Only one swimmer made it back on the team. Inequitable funding between swimmers coupled with a total lack of transparency demonstrates that Swimming Australia is not competent at its primary role; that is the welfare and support of all swimmers aspiring to join the elite group capable of high level performances. The speculation about how money is being spent will not cease until it is made public what the top 10 salary earners of Australian Swimming are starting with the the CEO Kevin Niel. Upon his appointment as CEO of Australian Swimming, Kevin Niel confessed to having no knowledge of swimming and yet he was appointed to the job regardless. Furthermore he was recently reappointed to a further 4 years before any assessment can be made of his own performance. Now, here is a man who sits in judgement and makes funding allocations to swimmers based on performance when his own performance is sub-standard and not subject to srutiny. It beckons the question of due diligence from the board of Swimming Australia and its head, David Urquart how they could allow this to happen. So now ponder where the responsibility lies for the ills of swimming in Australia. The much reported team culture issues is distracting from the main issues of competence of Swimming Australia. You can fix team culture in a heart beat. What you can't quickly remedy is the incompetence of an organisation that is deeply rooted in problems from the top down. The only remedy for that is to clean it out and start anew. So just to declare any perceived bias. Melanie Schlanger is my daughter. I am a stakeholder in this debate as one of many parents who support their children financially and emotionally throughout their quest to achieve their goals and dreams. And how does CEO Kevin Niel treat parents of swimmers..... He (a) does not recognise us as stakeholders and (b) when we speak out for the welfare of swimmers he unleashes his legal bloodhounds on the parents organisation by sueing our president in an attempt to shut us up. One would think that at least Kevin Niel would work with a Swimmers Association to make more informed decisions. Wrong! Kevin Niel does not recognise them as a stakeholder either. He has consistently ignored them in any process to benefit swimmers. Now in that context where should the primary focus be on any review of swimming in Australia? I will leave you to ponder over that question.

Kevin Neil is the wrong guy to be leading SA. His arrogant rule at the raiders left the club devestated after the salary cap debacle...