The Voice of the Lord is Upon the Waters

By David

PSALM 29:2-4

Craig Lord of Swimnews Online disgusts me. His writing is poorly penned, seldom checked and lacks integrity. Nowhere is this more clearly illustrated than in his article on Libby Lenton’s 52.99 100m freestyle. I’ll take you through his piece and show you what I mean.

“There is, sadly in this world where cheating casts clouds on the innocent too, another query”

In the very first sentence the fake inclusion of the word “sadly” casts clouds on Lord’s integrity. It screams fake; it highlights the beginning of a hatchet job. The writer is embarrassed; he does not want us to think of him as a scandalous creep so he drops in “sadly” to convey the idea that it upsets him to talk about all this. Right from the beginning it is appears sincerity and Lord are not well acquainted.

“… whose musculature came under widespread scrutiny

The standard put down; the girl’s got muscles, she must be a cheat. Lord’s as guilty of prejudice as the 1950s Chairman of the New Zealand Olympic Committee who said, “A good woman should never go to the Olympics if a good man was available” or the official who tried to throw Katherine Switzer out of the Boston Marathon. When I coached Toni Jeffs, she had muscles and was forever having to put up with snide comments from low life bigots.

“I am NOT accusing Lenton of anything.”

This falls into the same category as “sadly” in the first sentence. Lord, you are accusing Lenton of plenty. Your very next sentence says that because Steffen had the finger pointed at her, why can’t you point your finger at Lenton; because Australia has led the world in identifying cheats, Australia can expect the world to pick on them? Two wrongs don’t make a right. That’s probably a difficult concept for Lord to understand as he is a leading pointer in both cases. It’s the likes of him that bring sport into disrepute, that diminish the fine deeds of exceptional people.

“… three decades of doping-drenched swims that did not all come from the GDR and China.”

I agree: of course there have been drug cheats from other nations aside from the GDR and China. But name me five world record swims from countries apart from those two that have been ruled out as the result of a positive test. The implied accusation that Lenton’s swim is just another in a long list of exceptional swims that are the product of drugs is just not true.


“… a woman who has gone from over 54sec to under 53sec like a knife through hot butter
.”

You have to give it to Lord, he’s an expert at every snide put down known to sport. She improved; she’s probably cheating. It’s disgusting. Thank God athletes like Bannister, Snell and Weissmuller never had Craig Lord around to diminish their efforts. Just think how much more uplifting it would be for Lord to have told us about the grueling hard work that went into Lenton’s physique and speed?


“… and looking forward to her wedding day”

What a sexist thing to say. Can you believe it? Lenton swam fast because she is getting married. I think Lord may have been one of those who said Hackett wasn’t swimming well because he was distracted by getting married. It hurts the guys this getting married business, but girls break world records at the very thought. One of my Master’s swimmers said this morning that guys like Lord deserve to get pregnant and give birth.


“Can strengthening your buttocks account for half a second on the rest of a world”

There’s another put-down. According to Lord, all Linton has done is tone up her hindquarters. He seems incapable of writing about women without mentioning their anatomy. Is it any indication of what he spends his time at swim meets looking at? The obvious answer to his question is; no, Lenton spent a whole lot more time strengthening a whole lot of things in order to swim that fast. But Lord doesn’t care about that.

“Don Schollander in 1964 would have been half a second behind her. Astonishing.”

No, it’s not “astonishing” at all. A major barrier to progress in women’s sport has been comments like this. As women like Lenton ignore the bigots and take on Phelps, the gap between the sexes will close. Lord-like journalists will continue to suggest that her wedding plans, her small buttocks or steroids produced the fine swims. Lord-like journalists just can’t bear the thought that females may catch men at anything. They are the twenty first century’s, bedroom and kitchen men.

“I can supply database figures in words and column inches from all over the world

Good for you. The fact others are sexist bigots makes it okay for everyone. Does that make sense? His whole article is a nasty little piece that reflects badly on its author and does nothing to progress the sport that helps to pay his wages. Lenton is a fine athlete and her 52.99 had me leaping “up and down at the magnificence of it all.”

And I’m not an Australian. In fact I’m a New Zealander. I am envious of other countries sometimes, especially when it comes to the Greatest Living American. However, our nation has fought mightily with Australia in the pool, on the track and playing field. If anyone has reason to wish Australian sports stars ill, we do. But Lenton is a class act. As Muhammad Ali once said, “You done splendid.”