And so the great Swimming New Zealand experiment in centralized training has come to an end. The announcement of the new Targeted Athlete and Coach Manager formally brought the curtain down on this sorry chapter in New Zealand swimming history. For fifteen years and at a cost in excess of $20million Swimming New Zealand promoted its centralized Millennium program. And the business failed. Bankrupt for results and bereft of customers the Millennium centralized swim program was relegated to the dustbin of history.

However, the events that occurred here should not be forgotten. Whenever a business failure of this magnitude happens it is important to look at the lessons learned. It is even more important to consider whether there has been criminal wrongdoing. Has there been behaviour that has been so careless, so cavalier that it meets the standard of criminal negligence, fraud or abuse of position and power? Have the directors of Swimming New Zealand exercised informed, independent and good judgement? Have they acted with care, diligence and skill or do their decisions reach a standard of recklessness that has caused the “insolvency” of this program? Was their prospectus a fraud?

I am not a lawyer. “I don’t know” is the answers to these questions. However I do think that the Swimming New Zealand Board has charges that it needs to answer. Two provisions of the law may apply.

First, the failure of Swimming New Zealand’s centralized high performance program may have put the Directors in breach of Section 242 of the Crimes Act. In summary Section 242 says:

“False statement by promoter,

(1) Every one is liable to imprisonment who, in respect of any body, whether incorporated or unincorporated and whether formed or intended to be formed, makes or concurs in making or publishes any false statement, whether in any prospectus, account, or otherwise, with intent-

(b) to deceive or cause loss to any person, whether ascertained or not; or

(c) to induce any person to entrust any property to any other person.

(2) In this section, false statement means any statement in respect of which the person making or publishing the statement-

(b) is reckless as to the whether the statement is false in a material particular.”

And second, the performance and collapse of the Swimming New Zealand centralized high performance program could leave the directors liable under the Fair Trading Act.

The Fair Trading Act promotes accurate consumer information before a service is acquired. What a business says about its services in advertising or tells consumers is important.

Specifically the Fair Trading Act prohibits any business from:

1. misleading and deceptive conduct

1. unsubstantiated claims
2. false representations

And so, how did the Board of Swimming New Zealand promote its Centralized High Performance program? Well their proposals certainly never lacked for superlatives. The prospectus sought to attract New Zealand’s best swimmers with extravagant and unwarranted claims. In the table below I have reproduced some of the representations made by Swimming New Zealand; representations that I believe were false and unsubstantiated.

And the prospectus worked. Good swimmers were sold on the Swimming New Zealand fairy tale. The offer of those superlatives could not be resisted. For fifteen years the commitment of two generations of New Zealand’s best swimmers was total. Swimming New Zealand offered them a swimming paradise and swimmers bought into it with their sporting lives. Just think about that for a second. These swimmers paid more than money to buy the product being sold by Swimming New Zealand. Money would have been easy. Money would have been cheap. These swimmers paid with their lives. They gave Swimming New Zealand their dreams. Young New Zealanders left their home clubs in Christchurch, Hamilton, Auckland, Gisborne and a dozen other towns and cities to swim in the Swimming New Zealand program. No one can blame them –  the prospectus sounded too good to be true.

And that is exactly what it was – too good to be true. It was all lies; all just smoke and mirrors.

The Swimming New Zealand centralized program was never a world class coaching and training structure. For fifteen years, at a cost of more than $20million they tried and never won an Olympic medal.

The claim that their program retained and attracted “exceptional world class coaches” is a lie. Truth is the Swimming New Zealand program was chronically incapable of retaining any of its coaches. In fifteen years I can think of twelve coaches who have had a crack at coaching the Swimming New Zealand program; David Lyles, Gary  Hurring, Sam Turner, Jan Cameron, Thomas Ansorg, Mark Regan, Scott Talbot, Clive Power, Jerry Olszewski, Bill Sweetenham, Luis Villanueva and most recently the coaching intern Mat Woofe.  Twelve coaches in fifteen years is not “exceptional world class” coaching. Leaving a coaching intern in charge is also not “exceptional world class” coaching”.

And then the Swimming New Zealand Board used the lure of “swimming-with-the-best” to attract their next batch of recruits. Most of New Zealand’s elite swimmers, they say, are based at the Institute. That was not true. The truth was that as the really good swimmers discovered the sham reality of the High Performance program they packed their bags and caught a flight out of here. Swimming New Zealand’s false representations were recognized and exposed. Boyle and Stanley went to Australia, Snyders and Batchelor went to California and Main and Schendelaar-Kemp went to Florida. Far from “most of New Zealand’s elite swimmers” the Swimming New Zealand High Performance program was a case of, would the last surviving swimmer switch off the lights.

And finally Swimming New Zealand offered the prospect of longevity and growth. Their message was “join us, our program is going places”. They said, “The Wellington Regional High Performance Centre is the first in what we envisage will increase to 2-3 regional high performances centres throughout New Zealand in the future.” The truth is that shortly after that prediction the Wellington Regional High Performance Centre was closed and the coach was sacked. And, of course, there have been no 2-3 other regional high performance centres either. It was all reckless, misleading and deceptive.

And so, do I think that the Board of Swimming New Zealand has made or published false statements, with the intent to deceive or cause loss to any person, or to induce any person to entrust them? Do I think that the Board of Swimming New Zealand has been reckless as to the whether the statements are false in material particulars?” And has the information published by Swimming New Zealand been misleading and deceptive? Has it contained unsubstantiated claims and false representations?

In my view the answer to all those questions is, “most certainly yes”. Their behaviour won’t be investigated. But it should. And the penalty for the lies, the deception, the incompetence, the waste of $20million and the lost potential of some of New Zealand’s finest young swimmers should be the resignation of the entire Board. A Board should not be allowed to waste the lives of two generations of New Zealanders and get away with it. A few days ago the Board of USA Gymnastics had to resign because of negligence. I don’t see how this is all that different. But for this Board it was only a few teenage swimmers who lost their life dreams. What does that matter?