Guess Who Came To Breakfast?

By David

In our last Swimwatch post we wrote that SNZ had not bothered to mention the Christchurch appeal swim meets being held in Auckland and Rotorua. It looks like Swimwatch have shamed the shameless. The Auckland meet is now recorded on the SNZ website. The Bay of Plenty meet hasn’t made it yet. But we are pleased with your progress, SNZ. Your next big effort is to let your readers know that Bay of Plenty is planning a meet to support a struggling Christchurch community. While you are making changes to your website, would you please stop telling the world that Palmer and Boyle are swimming at the Millennium Institute. I’m pretty sure you know by now; they are both living and training in the United States.

However, today’s real news is that Mike Byrne, Swimming New Zealand’s CEO, turned up at the Millennium Institute this morning. Just look who came to breakfast! What on God’s good earth was this clandestine mission all about. Well let me tell you. He was in Auckland to address the Millennium swimmers about the pending SPARC investigation and his beloved Project Vanguard.

I’m pretty sure the first of those topics may be considered unwarranted interference in a semi-judicial process. However that sort of fine consideration is not something Byrne, Coulter or Cameron appear to lose much sleep over. However if I were involved in the SPARC investigation team I’d be mightily upset that some of my key witnesses may have been intimidated by their boss.

I would also be concerned at the spin Byrne put on the SPARC investigation. At his Auckland breakfast he made out that he is really pleased that the SPARC review is about to begin. He told the swimmers it was all about making the sport better. As near as it does not make any difference he vaguely implied that he was involved in the decision to bring SPARC into the sport. I have no idea why he didn’t come right out and say it was all his idea. He certainly left his athletic audience with that impression.

The reality of course is altogether different. SPARC are not in the habit of spending money investigating sports that they think are being well run. SPARC only send in an investigator when they think there is a problem. Byrne had nothing to do with the decision. I imagine the last thing Cameron and Byrne want is a Government investigator (Chris Ineson) examining their performance. This is a SPARC initiative. Let there be no misunderstanding in this investigation SPARC is the hunter and Byrne and Cameron, the hunted – no matter what spin he tells New Zealand’s best swimmers. It is sad though when any boss distorts the organization’s position to his employees.

Interestingly, Jan Cameron’s step daughter and Personal Assistant asked Byrne if anyone was going to lose their job as a result of the SPARC investigation. Byrne said, “Absolutely not.” Sure as hell, I hope that’s not true. It will surprise no one to find out that I think Cameron, Byrne and Coulter have passed their sell by date. Certainly their jobs are very much under review. Swimming will be better off if it puts the Cameron, Byrne and Coulter era behind it. Let’s all hope SPARC reach the same conclusion. Then Byrne can tell us all that his departure was actually his idea. I might be oversensitive here, but I wonder if the question about jobs was asked in order to manipulate impressionable swimmers into following the corporate line. Obedience will protect us all. That sounds like a really good environment from which to win the Olympic Games.

Strangely, given the makeup of his audience, Byrne then spent some time discussing Project Vanguard. He said the introduction of bureaucrats, like him, was vital to the sport’s survival. The manner in which he promotes paid staff at the expense of volunteers is simply disgusting.

Unbelievably he then informed the assembled swimmers that the vast majority of New Zealand swimming people supported the introduction of Project Vanguard. There were, he said, only a few misguided malcontents who disagreed with the brilliance of his new idea. Now that is simply not true. My guess is that New Zealand’s largest Region, Auckland is not going to vote itself out of existence. Counties and Bay of Plenty don’t seem to want a team of Mike Byrne clones running their affairs. My reading of the Waikato minutes suggests they are pretty lukewarm about the whole idea. Poverty Bay were so enthusiastic that they refused to attend Hemsworth’s Napier Sermon on the Mount. Given the tone of the Manawatu Remit I doubt that Region is prepared to vote themselves into oblivion just yet. Southland has such strong links with their Licensing Trust I can’t imagine them handing the management of that relationship over to a few Byrne lookalike foreigners. And as for Canterbury, when they hear that SNZ supported them in their hour of genuine need with the proceeds of some t-shirt sales, they might not be so quick to support Project Vanguard. I have no idea about the rest of the country but Byrne’s idea of wholehearted support and a few malcontents is far from the truth.

The New Zealand swimming community should recognize that Swimming New Zealand still has not asked for permission to move their Project Vanguard onto its next stage. By the instruction of the Annual Meeting, SNZ are required to obtain this approval. If they do not, the organization’s Board and its executive will be in contempt and should be impeached. An interim Board should be appointed until a new Board that complies with the direction of its stakeholders is elected. I do hope that in his discussions with swimming people the SPARC investigator, Chris Ineson, realizes the relationship that exist between Cameron, Byrne and Coulter’s lust for power and the sport’s inability to perform.

  • Deborah

    David,

    I would really appreciate it if you removed the below comment fom your post:

    Jill Vernon died working for his organisation. And he walks roughshod over her memory and the memory of an army of workers like her. Byrne is incapable of exercising the power he has already. Nothing should allow him access to more.

    My mother loved working for Auckland Swimming and Swimming New Zealand it was her pride and joy. She loved catching up with the other workers at swim meets and meetings, catering for the various competitions and also being able to watch swimmers achievements as they grew further and further into the sport. Mum would often watch the televised swim meets and cheer for the swimmers from our lounge yelling their names and saying go, go, go :) (she knew them all by first name and genuinely wanted them to acheive the best)

    The above comment in your post does not reflect my mothers views about Auckland Swimming or Swimming New Zealand at all and am disappointed that you would use her name in such content.

    Thank you,

    Deborah.

  • On reflection you are right. I apologize. The offending sentences have been removed. David.