For years Swimwatch has been banging on about the problems associated with Swimming New Zealand’s lack of leadership. Attention has primarily been given to the mess created by the centralized Millennium coaching program; things like the endless succession of coaches, their poor performance, the effect on the nation’s regional coaches and the unearned arrogance of the Millennium culture.

But it’s not only coaching that has been affected. The lack of product knowledge at the top manifests itself in other ways. Let’s consider one example; the annual program of competitions.

In training and in competition it is important to build a season in order that the swimmer can progressively advance to their main event. In training that usually means starting the season with aerobic distance conditioning, adding in a period of anaerobic training and ending with several weeks of speed work, racing and trials. The season is a step by step progression leading up to the main event of the period.

The competition program prepared by the sport’s administrators must reflect the same progressive characteristics. If it does not, the results obtained by New Zealand’s swimmers at pinnacle events, will be hurt. I was first taught this concept of progressive competition by track coach, Arthur Lydiard. The table below shows the plan I agreed with Lydiard we would use in a normal New Zealand summer season.

An example of an actual season swum by Toni Jeffs, Nichola Chellingworth and Jane Copland is shown in the next table.

As you can see, that was a total of eight competitions. With heats and finals the program meant that the swimmers had about 50 races in the summer season; well in line with our goal of 100 races each year. And the progressive program worked. Between them the three swimmers set four New Zealand records and won HBPB, Auckland, Open, Oceania and NSW Championships.

But to achieve that result we had to have meets available at the right time. The schedule set by Swimming New Zealand had to accommodate the performances we were aiming for in the Oceania and New South Wales Championships.

This year a good swimmer’s peak event is the Commonwealth Games. Let’s look at the meets Swimming New Zealand has made available. Is their schedule of meets compatible with getting the best performance from swimmers at the Commonwealth Games? The table shows the best I could make of the meets Swimming New Zealand has offered.

For some reason, best and only known to Johns and Cotterill, the national New Zealand Age Group and Open Championships have been put back to after the Commonwealth Games. The Opens are now in the middle of winter, in July. Why the Age Groups and Opens were not scheduled before the Commonwealth Games, as an opportunity for team members to race, I have no idea.

As you can see the schedule available is inadequate. Does Steve Johns want New Zealand swimmers to perform badly? It sure seems like it. Certainly the national racing program Johns has prepared does nothing to give New Zealand’s swimmers a chance. No one can prepare for world class racing at the Manawatu or Counties Championships. Compared to the tough racing going on in Australia and the United Kingdom just now, our swimmers have nothing. Their only option is to swim in time trials or look for races overseas. In my view, Swimming New Zealand has failed in the most basic duty of caring for the needs of its swimmers.

In saying that, I have nothing against the Counties or Manawatu Championships. I love going to both meets. They are fun, well run events. Eyad and I are at Counties this weekend. However they are not the place to finish the preparation of a swimmer wanting to beat Cate Campbell or Adam Peaty at the Commonwealth Games.

I sometimes wonder how Johns and Cotterill reached these decisions. Who suggested scheduling the Open Championships in July? Who decided the Anthony Mosse meet should be short course and only timed finals? Why are the national Age Groups after the Commonwealth Games? Why are the Auckland Championships at the beginning of the long course season, in December? Why are there so few longer races scheduled in Auckland club meets?

Whoever decided the current competition program has let New Zealand swimming down. The schedule should have provided a series of ever more difficult meets culminating in the Commonwealth Games. The schedule needed to include as much long course competition and as many meets with heats and finals as possible. Why? Simple really; because the Commonwealth Games is long course and involves heats and finals. Even senior swimmers need to refresh those skills in the lead-up to a world class event such as the Commonwealth Games. My guess is our swimmers are going to arrive in Brisbane short of racing. And that is a serious handicap.

Events like the Commonwealth Games require at least six pre-games meets. Toni Jeffs twice broke New Zealand records in meets five and six; Anna Simcic broke her world record in meet five; Danyon Loader broke his in meet five; and Phillipa Langrell set her New Zealand 800 metres record in meet five. Shorter preparation would have seen New Zealand missing out on two world records and five national records. So six meets is the minimum and seven or eight is better.

The table shows the starting, mid-season and end of season times of several New Zealand international medallists, all of them performed best in meets five and six:

Track athletes have been doing this sort of thing longer than swimmers.  It is interesting to see the length of time between beginning their season and running their best times:

And so is Steve Johns checking that the New Zealand Commonwealth Games team members have a progressive racing plan? Is he asking whether they are competing in the necessary number of events? If he is not, if these rules are being broken, New Zealand swimmers will not perform at their best. Because in Australia, South Africa, Canada, Scotland, England, Ireland and Wales those sorts of things are being checked, those rules are being followed.

PS On the subject of what does Steve Johns do all day? It sounds like there is “trouble-at-mill” in Masterton. I’ve heard rumours of lawyer’s letters and calls for Swimming New Zealand to investigate. I’ve heard mention of financial irregularities. I hope Steve Johns can pull himself away from coffee in the Millennium Wholefood café long enough to investigate something that does not sound good.