A thought piece intended to provoke opinions and discussion

What Will Improve Swimming in the Underdeveloped Swimming Nations?
  by John Leonard,  June 24, 2010

One of the charges of the World Swimming Coaches Association is to assist in improving swimming worldwide.  This means in the underdeveloped swimming nations as well as the historically strong swimming nations. So what exactly will help the underdeveloped nations move forward?

First, I am sure we can agree on a couple of things:

1. New, safe, sanitary pools to swim in and access to those pools at no or a reasonable cost. (Teach learn to swim, conduct Age Group and development programs, encourage senior training programs.)
2. A dedicated coaching corps interested in staying home, earning a living and building swimming in their own nation.  (Not running off to a developed swimming nation once they have the credentials to do so, tempting as this might be.)
3. Interest in the sport among the population. (Easy to say, not so easy to do, if you have no history in the sport.)

Now to the “hard stuff”…

Does having an entry or two to the Olympic Games and World Championships help develop swimming in a nation?  I would argue no, just the opposite…this policy simply encourages wealthy people to send their children abroad to existing excellent programs to “prepare them” there for representing their home nation at the Games/WCs.  Who can blame them?  We all want the very best of opportunities for our own children.

In fact, it allows FINA to claim “universality” of the sport…many nations sending under-prepared, non-qualified, but selected athletes to the Games, so FINA can correctly claim large national numbers of “representatives”.  Not to put too fine a point on it, an athlete from an African nation is training at a major USA university and living there full time.  They travel to London to compete in the Olympic Games, after being “selected” by their nation.  Then they travel “home” to the USA and their university.  How exactly does that help build swimming in that African nation?  Does it create a role model you can see, and touch and learn from?  Or is it simply “representative”? of the nation.  (As a disclaimer, I am NOT criticizing those who do exactly that, we all wish the best for our children.  I am questioning if this actually builds swimming in that nation?)

IF you want to develop a nation’s swimming, it seems to me that you must “reward” those athletes and coaches who demonstrate the ability and the willingness to do what it takes to excel at the world level. And of course, that is very difficult.  One way of rewarding them, and at the same time “moving them forward”, is to place them in a developed nation, where they will daily compete with even better athletes and learn to improve further onto the world stage. BUT.

IF that athlete never comes home to train, to teach those following them and provide the swimming role model, idol and example, then the connection between elite reward and expanding the corps of potential future elites is lost.  One athlete benefits, but the nation does not move forward.

At the same time, if that elite athlete does come home, the home country must provide what that athlete needs to train adequately at home in terms of coach, training time, support for living, and all the other things that go into the making of a world-class athlete.  As Rudyard Kipling put it…the strength of the wolf is the pack, the strength of the pack is the wolf.

The wolf (elite athlete) must come home and give to his support community at home and help them move forward.  When he does so, the pack (the home organization and athletes) must realize that the wolf has different, and perhaps more extensive, needs than those who are not yet at elite level, and do their best to provide those.

Everyone in the “aspiring elite” group must realize their responsibility as they become the elite, to make the necessary sacrifices and contributions to give back.

Finally, there is one other key “missing piece”. And that is the proper level of aspiration.

For an underprepared athlete to attend the Olympic Games and compete with no hope of advancing to the semifinals even, is a very bittersweet experience.  Happy to be there, but no meaningful chance to advance, leaves a very under-stimulated and un-motivated athlete.

The key then is to have an appropriate level of competition for each level of athlete from the novice to the Olympian.  While the Olympian plays on the Olympic field (pool), and the novice in the local pool, the key to development is to make sure that excellent, “reachable” experiences on a regional level are available where the athlete has a reasonable chance to advance to the finals or even win, will ensure that all world athletes are motivated by an achievable series of goals.

In many places in the swimming world today, we lack the proper structure to encourage those not-yet-elite, but aspiring, athletes, to move to the next level in competition, and thus, inspire them to new and harder levels of training.  We would do well to focus on making sure that all our “developing nation” targets have regional competitions that are well developed, well-funded and fully available to provide a step on the ladder to the level of qualifying for the Olympic Games and World Championships.

Athletes will train harder and achieve more when we are able to place the full and properly realized goals in front of them, where they are seen as “achievable”.  All of us involved in world swimming should be working to realize this expectation of our swimmers.  After all, “a rising tide lifts ALL the boats”.

All the best,
  John Leonard

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Another view of international development
  from Dennis Miller, President of Fiji Swimming

posted July 6, 2010

Dear John,

I found your recent article quite interesting and would like to respond.

I fully agree that developing nations in swimming, like most of the members of the Oceania Swimming Association, face the problems you mention. But the fact remains that we need to get our swimmers into more competitive environments to improve. When you have a program with a maximum of 10–12 swimmers at a regionally competitive level, they have to be given the opportunity for coaching and competition in more advanced swimming nations. Otherwise they are just the big fish in the small pool and tend to coast along, even with good coaching.

I fully support the need for increased support for regional championships. We have just concluded the Oceania Championships in Samoa where we had a good turnout of swimmers from most of our member federations. But we would have had more with some more resources. See http://www.oceaniasport.com/osc2010

Another way to develop at home is through strengthening of national federations through administration support, structured coach education programs and development of technical officials. I hope to see more funding for these areas in the near future.

On the issue of "universality entries" I have some mixed feelings. I agree that often the swimmers are there just for the numbers (for the Olympics or FINA Worlds). But then again, when a good program is in place at home, swimmers deserve to go to the marquee events as long as they have shown commitment and dedication. They might not make it past the heats but they have been given the chance to represent their country and improve on their performances. From my personal experience at the Rome Worlds, where my son competed, he was thrilled to be there, to swim in the same pool as Phelps, and he PB’d every race he swam. There was no lack of motivation on his part, I can assure you.

The best example that I can think of in relation to your article is Ryan Pini from PNG – 2006 Commonwealth Games Gold medallist and 2008 Beijing finalist in the 100m Fly. Ryan has spent most of his training and competition in Brisbane but he always makes the point that he is from PNG, which he visits regularly and he is an inspiration to swimmers in his home country and around the Pacific.

Happy to continue the discussion.

Best regards,

  -Dennis Miller

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Posted July 12, 2010

Response to What Will Improve Swimming in the Underdeveloped Swimming Nations?
  from Dale Neuburger, FINA Vice President

I read with great interest the “thought piece intended to provoke opinions and discussion” from John Leonard regarding the development of swimming worldwide, and I am pleased to respond with my personal viewpoint.

John…you are exactly right: positive role models, whether athletes or coaches, inspire others. Three of the more interesting examples come from Africa.

As we know, Oussama Mellouli has been one of the best swimmers in the world for almost a decade, and his Olympic gold medal in the 1500 meter freestyle was the first ever achieved by a swimmer from Tunisia. But although the bulk of his training has been in the United States, there are young swimmers in his country who have been inspired by his accomplishments. One such young man is Ahmed Mathlouti, who finished 21st in the 200 freestyle in Rome at age 19, with a sub-1:48.00 performance.

For many years, Salim Iles was the most recognized swimmer to compete for Algeria, and he was a consistent finalist in sprint freestyle races on the international level. He, too, did the bulk of his training outside of his home country in France and the United States, but he inspired the “next wave” of Algerian swimmers, including Nabil Kebab, who had a sub-49.00 performance in the 100 freestyle and Sofiane Daid who swam under 1:02.00 in the 100 meter breaststroke in Rome.

And, when South Africa athletes – Ryk Neethling, Roland Schoeman, Lyndon Ferns, and Darian Townsend – won the 400 freestyle relay gold medal in Athens, they enabled young swimmers in their country to “dream the impossible dream.” Although the bulk of their training was in the United States, just a few years later, Cameron van der Burgh, Natalie du Toit, and Gerhard Zandberg have established themselves as standouts in international competition.

All six of these swimmers were undoubtedly inspired by their predecessors who had “blazed trails” to achieve international success. And each did so against the odds. Would it have happened anyway? Perhaps, but perhaps not.

And sometimes inspiring swimmers come from other countries, too.

In January 2009, I was in Riyadh performing some work for a Saudi Arabian sports federation. Coincidentally and totally unknown to me, Michael Phelps was appearing at a business conference at the same time, featuring other Olympic heroes like Carl Lewis. Michael graciously agreed to spend a few hours at the pool at the Olympic Training Center, to “meet and greet” young Saudi swimmers.

More than 500 young swimmers showed up at the pool, some of whom came from more than four hours away, traveling by car, through the desert. Five hundred Saudi kids…six months after Beijing…traveling enormous distances across the desert, just to see Michael for a few minutes. The power of inspiring athletes knows no reasonable bounds.

And, although there are swimmers who fit the description in your article, there are also many others who use the FINA World Championships or Olympic Games as their inspiration. For some, merely competing will be a lifelong memory; for others, it will be the impetus for continued training and competition. They swim in the same pool as the heroes of our sport, and even if their success is modest, their motivation is great.

And sometimes coaches take tough positions which inspire great performances.

I am reminded of a brash young coach – Dave Kelsheimer – who coached the National Team of the Cayman Islands. Although two “universality” positions were open to Cayman swimmers to compete at the Sydney Olympic Games, he told his swimmers and their parents that none would compete in Sydney unless they achieved a qualifying time. None did, and no Cayman swimmers went to Sydney. It was not only difficult to take such a stance within his club, but he also incurred the wrath of the Cayman Islands Olympic Committee.

Four years later, Cayman had three swimmers with an Olympic “B” qualifying time -- Andrew Mackay, Heather Roffey, and Shaune Fraser. From no qualifiers in the history of Cayman swimming through 2000, to three swimmers at the Athens Olympic Games…that’s real progress!

And, four more years later, Cayman was represented by two athletes – Shaune and Brett Fraser -- who came very close to becoming semi-finalists in Beijing, both finishing in the top 30 in their best events. Shaune has since won three NCAA individual titles, while Brett had several top 16 performances leading to a fifth place finish in 2010 for Coach Gregg Troy’s University of Florida team.

It took the courageous (and risky) stance by a coach to help athletes aspire to results they had never before achieved nor imagined. He passed up a chance to be on the pool deck in Sydney, which would be a dream-come-true for any young coach, in order to make a point and to create a platform for long-term success of the program.

Yes, maybe it would have happened anyway…but, I think not!

Swimming has an abundance of role models, both in and out of the water, as athletes and coaches. We need to tell their stories, chronicle their successes, and celebrate their ability to succeed even when the odds are significantly stacked against them.

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Posted August 23, 2010

Response from George Block, WSCA President

With the Gold Medal Clinic and WSCA meetings upcoming, I want to expand on a couple of points you made in your article, so perhaps the WSCA members can discuss them in Indianapolis.

Facility Access
Access to pools is not one of the easy ones.  In many (most?) developing swimming nations, access is everything; and this is one place FINA could have a huge impact but ignores the critical issue.

It doesn’t matter how many clinics FINA or the IOC sponsors, if the coaches go home and their pool is not working.  There is no PVC of that size in the country, or there are no pumps that fit in the country, or valves, or heaters, or….

If FINA would require all “FINA certified pools” to use a standard piping, standard pumps, standard heaters, standard valves, so any vendor (or any plumbing shop or oil company) could replace pipe, pumps, valves and heaters, developing swimming nations would develop much faster.

FINA has to get involved at the base level – access to facilities – if we are to take its development efforts seriously.

The pool vendors complained.  “We have to be able to differentiate our product.”  How about differentiating by price, quality and service?  Wouldn’t that be something?

We can get different sized gutters for learn-to-swim or international competition.  Different pool depths would be needed for club lessons and training versus major competitions, but the machinery of the pools should be standardized everywhere.  Pools should be easy to repair.  Parts should be available quickly and inexpensively.

The vendors cried again.  “This will stop innovation.  We are going to get very energy efficient.”  Fine.  Build a new pump, but make sure it fits in exactly where the old one came off.

Regional Championships
The entire world was transfixed this summer as the FIFA World Cup Finals took place in South Africa.  One of the things that made it so exciting was all the qualifying that led up to it all over the world.

Regional qualifying for the World Cup was a big event.  In the Americas, tiny island nations with no statistical chance of qualifying followed their team throughout regional qualifying, and the fans came to know the players and teams from their region who eventually qualified.  Unknowns became famous.

We need the same thing in swimming.  We have wonderful regional championships that beyond the week of the meet are meaningless.  We have to find a way to get regional champions to the World Championships and Olympic Games.

I don’t know what that formula is, but I do know that with the best swimming minds in the world around the same table, we can figure it out.

The USA, Australia, Germany, France, Japan – the major swimming powers – don’t want to lose their autonomy or their swimming Trials.  That would be silly.  Those are already great regional championships.  We need to find a way to give developing regions the same experience of standing up and racing their friends for an opportunity to swim on the World and Olympic stage.

Right now, FINA is giving away precious qualifying slots to “swimmers” who have never even competed in a regional championship.  It is an insult to those developing nations that are putting a great effort in building up their swimming that nations that make no effort get the same opportunity.

No more political free rides.  Let’s allow every swimmer to earn their spot on the World and Olympic deck.

Coming Home to Swim
I think I disagree with my colleague, Mr. Leonard, on this point.  Every student doesn’t attend the university in his or her hometown.  Every child doesn’t grow up and take a job in his or her neighborhood.  Students seek the best universities and opportunities to pursue their studies.  Young people look all over the world for the best job they can find.  It should be no different with Olympic preparation.

This is especially true in developing nations.  The top students from developing nations attend universities all over the world and then bring that knowledge back to their homeland.  It is the same with jobs.  Young people migrate to work.  They seek opportunities that will advance them and sustain their families.  Why do we expect swimming to be different?

Often talented swimmers from developing nations outgrow the pot in which they were planted.  This isn’t an insult to their coaches:  it is a compliment!  Their coaches were such superb gardeners, that their students outgrew their own garden.

The real marks of a great developmental coach are:

1. Love of the sport.  The coach gave the swimmer a lifetime love of their sport.
2. Great technique.  I don’t need to describe that for this audience, because coaches all over the world develop swimmers who move beautifully through the water, then have to leave for a bigger competitive pond.
3. Work ethic.  Wherever they show up, they outwork all those around them.  They cherish the opportunity and demonstrate it every day with hard work.

We need to recognize the coaches who developed these swimmers, not just those who polished them for their Olympic performance.  Both coaches are critical.  WSCA should do it.  FINA should do it.

It All Comes Together
When the swimmer returns home to qualify in his or her regional competition, it all comes together.

The FINA-branded pools that allowed them to train every day would host their returning heroes when they came home to qualify.  The coaches who nurtured that love of the sport and insisted on that great technique before they built the work ethic would be recognized for developing this champion.

Perhaps the coach who nurtured the developing swimmer would travel with the international coach who has honed the swimmer for international success.  Perhaps a friendship would develop that would accelerate the development of international swimming in that country even more.