Witnessing Australia’s recent failures in the pool and subsequent recriminations, you’d be forgiven for thinking no one beats us any more – that we only beat ourselves.
Such is the lapse in sportsmanship that critics and athletes alike seem to canvass the nuts and bolts of how ‘we lost’, rather than how the winners won.
We can blame social media for turning us into navel-gazing whingers, or the pressures of a ‘whatever it takes’ mantra of taxpayer accountable sport funding, but it still boils down to an erosion of competitive grace.
Our swimmers at the current ‘worlds’ in Barcelona should be made to view the post race interviews of American winners like Missy Franklin and Kate Ledecky.
“It’s an incredible honour to be here and compete against the best in the world” they both gushed and bubbled.
Scripted? You bet!
But aren’t most responses from what we like to call ‘our better nature’?
Alicia Coutts apparently came in for some vicious taunts from the Twittersphere for crying over a recent relay loss. While abuse is no way to vent national frustrations, there is a collective sentiment out there saying our teams seem to be acting like spoilsports.
One of the first things budding swimmers used to be told is never to rain on the winner’s parade. And raining tears on the winners parade – crying – was always held up as the cardinal sin of bad sportsmanship.
If such restraint was once expected of 10 year olds, our grown up swimmers should be able to bottle it for a moment and let the victors enjoy their spoils.
A 15 year old girl I coach on the Gold Coast will soon spend a week at the AIS in a squad of hand picked ‘future internationals’, courtesy of tax payers.
Her parents had to sign a twenty page document covering everything from duty-of-care caveats to brand protection agreements. Nowhere was anything said about the sportsmanship that would be expected of the participants.
The girl, whose nickname is “Mo”, is also dux of her grade at school, rides horses, plays both the flute and piano and surfs.
Yet she finds time for up to nine swim sessions a week. She has never raised even an eyebrow of dissent in her 10 years with me.
When her parents asked if I was okay with the AIS camp, I had to warn them about the minority ratbags and brats her daughter might be exposed to.
But Mo is pretty sharp when it comes to picking her friends and I told her parents she totally deserved the week mixing with elite peers she has – for the most part – always admired.
I have no idea why sportsmanship is no longer a non-negotiable tenet of swimmer indoctrination.
Maybe it’s perceived as arcane and pedantic. Which is a shame, because sportsmanship is actually self serving.
Experience shows that junior athletes who can at least triumph at being a good sport tend to last longer, while dummy spitters quit as soon as the opportunity presents itself.
When a young losing competitor takes care not to detract from the winner’s joy, he or she will strive even harder to enjoy the limelight themselves.
Reports are filtering through that our Barcelona team, led by James Magnussen, is more in touch with its feminine, softer side and offering emotional support to each other.
This is commendable, but unless it is complemented by honouring their opponents as well, it will only be a bandaid on a big gash in our swimming culture.
A former coach of mine had a favourite saying that I once had trouble understanding, but which is now clear. It went “believe in yourself to challenge, but believe in your opponent to win”.
Maybe if our teams believed in their opponents a bit more, we’d see more of those close finishes converted into wins.
Johnno
Guest
Brad that is actually a very good point, about MMA. I have noticed that. MMA cops a lot of flack, for being such a brutal rough sport which it is. But maybe the pressure of it's brutal contact, the officialdom who run MMA, run a very tight ship. The refereeing is usually of a good standard, and the fighters always seem to be very clear who is boss in the Octagon, and it's the ref. A lot of respect there. no mouthing off etc. And I notice in MMA , the fighters rarely seem to cheat or break the rules, as MMA comes down hard on foul play, and disqualifications happen if break the rules. Where as in boxing just about every fight I see, needless head-butts, cheap shots at the back of the head, and low-blows often. It goes on and on. MMA runs a tight-ship, a good point.
deanp
Guest
steady on! That's no way to speak about an Olympic champion from 1972, even if his winning time from way back then would not even be quick enough to beat a 16 year old girl nowadays!
Dean Sommerville
Guest
Here's an idea. How about people stop generalising? I have a quiet personality, and when it comes to supporting sportspeople, I tend to wish the best for those that are similar to me. I certainly don't support anyone that likes to talk themselves up. There are plenty of people in the world similar to me, but we aren't noticed as much because of how quiet we are. The people that get noticed the most, surprise, are the ones that talk a lot, and talk loudly.
brad cooper
Guest
No harm done Sheek. It seemed you were excessively eulogising Coutts, as if her reputation were under attack, which it definitely wasn't. That polemic just isn't there, particularly from my article's point of view. I too think she is a credit to swimming, but in their own interest our swimmers should be more disciplined in their competitive responses. When an athlete feels duty bound to unconditionally honor the winner first and then commiserate privately later, their career invariably picks up. If that sounds superstitous, many sportsmen have tried stranger rituals. My response to your feedback was terse, so I apologise. While on the sportsmanship soapbox, another great example of sportsmanship is in MMA. The majority of winners can't wait to get in front of the interview microphone to say what a stud their opponent was. And the vast majority of losers tell Joe Rogan the better man won and it was an honor to fight them. The American swimmers seem okay with 'old school' sportsmanship. Why not us? Cheers.
Sledgeross
Roar Rookie
Brad, judging by your response to Sheek, being a brat isnt in the sole domain of Gen Y sportspeople!
sheek
Roar Guru
Okay Brad, Must be a bad hair day, we've gone off in different tangents, it seems. I wasn't criticising your article, but supporting it. A good deal of my response was based on your banner headline - "Better sportsmanship..." Anyway, we'll cancel today, & start afresh next time!
brad cooper
Guest
Hi Sheek, whoever you are. Sorry, but I diidn't quite understand the relevance of your confession of sticking the boot into James Magnussen when he imploded, or the claim that Lindy Chamberlain's stern looks influenced a guilty judgement, nor your admission to "loving Alicia Coutts in a wholesome way, or references to her inner beauty". How does that relate to an article on the decline of sportsmanship in Australian swim teams? I think you were trying in your own way to set up a false polemic. A critique doesn't mean ipso facto that you've demonised the subject. Cheers Brad Cooper.
brad cooper
Guest
Sorry Mike, but you've generalised and speculated a little too far. There hasn't been a year in the last two decades that I haven't served in a volunteer role on a club or regional committee, liasing with other officials and delegates in the administration of my sport. I am currently secretary of my swim club. There are two things I would like to bring to your attention: that those in charge of many sports including swimming are paid professionals and are held accountable in a public forum (a public forum usually requires the names of those who make comment and I haven't noticed yours here). The other thing is that we live in a democracy and may critique anything we like as long as it doesn't make threats or defame. I stand by my impression that our swim team for some time has been more concerned with its own shortcomings than in crediting the winners. It is a systemic problem without any one single cause and that is why I haven't pointed the finger of blame. When an athlete starts taking total responsibility for losing and starts honouring the winner, then they start the road to winning themselves. Your comments need much more consideration, Mike of Melbourne, before you start tut-tutting informed opinion.
sheek
Roar Guru
Gidday Brad, Nice article, especially about young Mo. May she have a wonderful career ahead of her. They say perception is reality. Lindy Chamberlain was guilty in almost everyone's mind, including the investigating police, because of her stern appearance. Judgement was passed on her simply on looks. I was on one those sticking the boot into James Magnussen when he imploded at the Olympics last year. The guy was too arrogant by far, & there was sadistic pleasure in seeing him fall. But I salute him. He appears to have learnt his lessons & now combines a nice mix of confidence & humility. There is another saying that character is defined by, not how many times you get knocked down, but that you keep jumping back up. And Magnussen has certainly bounced back in the best possible way. In Australian rugby we've seen both sides of the coin. Wallabies James O'Connor, Kurtley Beale & Quade Cooper come across as insolent brats, even if perhaps they're not. the need to attend lessons on "how to win friends & influence people." On the other hand, we have a team full of champion blokes at the Brumbies about to play in the super rugby final - George Smith, Steve Moore, Ben Mowen, Clyde Rathbone, Matt Tomua, Christian Leafiifano, Jesse Mogg - all champion blokes. I love my heroes to be modest. Not false modesty, but genuine humility & empathy. Confidence is good, arrogance is bad. I also love Alicia Coutts (in a wholesome way). I reckon that girl is a champion with a capital 'C.' She's right up there with Sally Pearson, Anna Meares & Ellyse Perry. I love her guts, I love her commitment, I love her sincerity, I love her inner beauty. She's the kind of person that makes you proud to be Australian.
Mike of Melbourne
Guest
Brad I am surprised by your comments, you are generalizing and you should know better. As a coach, like all your counterparts, it is part of your job to teach these kids what sportsmanship is. You spend more time with them than their families. Yes in your coaching you are giving back to the sport but have you tried to reach out and assist? Or do you just use this platform. This is the problem, a lot of former swimmers are happy to criticize and do it in public but don't turn to the organizations running the sport and offer help and assistance. You are part of the problem, become the solution.
brad cooper
Guest
Good irony deanp. As long as it wasn't a howl I don't think it would have worried the Springboks. A discrete tear doesn't offend anyone.
Winston
Guest
Interesting. Maybe I haven't been around during "the good old days" of good sportsmanship, but the way I see it, Australians are generally arrogant, but not only that, Australians don't mind too much arrogant people. Say around a primary school classroom, how many times are there when a teacher would ask a question, a kid puts his hand up, then blurts out something completely stupid and wrong? You can of course say there are positives to that - confidence, willingness to share, proactive, etc - but equally, it doesn't happen very often in some other countries, where people are taught to keep their mouth shut unless they have something considered and constructive to say. All of that translates into general life, and of course our sportspeople too. Had the Missile won gold at the Olympics nobody would have minded what he said before (and probably what he would have said after). Australians only don't like arrogant sportspeople if they can't back up their arrogance. And that's a problem, because it means as long as you succeed you can act in whatever manner you want. And it's not just the sportspeople, it's absolutely everyone in society.
deanp
Guest
It had never occurred to me that the tear running down Zinzan's face at finish of the 1995 RWC was in fact a display of bad sportsmanship. I now realise that Zinzan was in reality a spoilt brat with a sense of entitlement. If only there was twitter back then so I could have bravely sent him some gloating tweats to inform him of this. Thanks for clearing that up Brad.
Johnno
Guest
Brad a nice article. Some old school points, maybe even some nostalgia to it, or a touch of the "good old days" when sportsmanship and manners were just done. It's a shame Gen Y,X,Z, seem to have lost those. Sign of the times it seems, and not for the better. Good sportsmanship was always encouraged in junior sport in the 50's,60's,70's, and in the 80's and 90's when I was a junior, it seems to have got lost in the 2000's. And that is unfortunate. And it seems to start at it's most basic level, and kids footy games etc, angry psychopants parents, screaming from the sidelines. And not just footy, I have seen it at tennis,athletics, and swimming events. It's disgraceful behaviour from parents. Like I said in the 50's,60's,70's80's,90's, I never ever saw any pshycopantsparents, all parents were always polite, and simply cheered, I can honestly say I never saw any aggro. I heard stories of pushy parents, pushing there kids hard with attitudes towards training hard, and the occasional crazy tennis dad (but only at the elite level), but at the junior level of any standard I never saw any pshycopants parents, never, and the most unsporting gesture I saw in my time growing up was the "old groan", if there child's team lost, or a got pipped into 2nd place, or a last minute try, but none of this "attitude", we see now, it's disgraceful the behaviour of parents some today, and this flows on to the kids, who take it on as adults. It's disgraceful and a real shame,. A good article Brad.