In my previous Swimwatch post I discussed how closing the Swimming New Zealand training squad was important to giving the organisation a clear sense of direction. It is the ultimate irony that Bruce Cotterill gets paid to give speeches about corporate clarity of purpose and at the same time rules over the hedge maze that is Swimming New Zealand. I also said it was the last occasion I would set out those arguments. We will all wait and see what Johns and Francis present at the regional meetings they have planned.

What I do want to discuss is the importance to take advantage of the opportunity to change. While it is true healthy organisations need to adapt and change all the time, the occasions when major changes can be implemented successfully occur less frequently. Employees, members and partners understand the importance of change but also value stability.

The last time Swimming New Zealand was in a position to accept major change was in 2011. Brian Palmer and Bronwen Radford did a good job of leading Swimming New Zealand’s regions to a point where the majority accepted that change was required. And then Brian Palmer was invited to Wellington to meet the Sport New Zealand CEO, Peter Miskimmin. At that meeting, in my opinion, Brian Palmer sold the crown jewels. The opportunity of a generation was lost. Palmer and Radford allowed Miskimmin to take advantage of the recognition of the need for change.

Instead of being used as a vehicle to implement progressive change, Miskimmin and Moller imposed on the organisation its current reactionary constitution. Oh, Palmer at the time was full of excuses. “There was no other way,” he told me on the phone. “Miskimmin would have gone to Court. We could not afford the legal fall out,” he said. When courage in its leadership was needed most, swimming came up sadly short.

And the results have been exactly as we predicted; as we told Palmer in 2011. Six years later:

1. The number of competitive swimmers is down by 8.1%.
2. The number of coaches is down by 54.7%.
3. The total membership is down by 24.9%
4. The number of clubs is down by 8.3%.
5. Government funding is down by 28.0%
6. Membership fees are down by 0.7%.
7. Total funding is down by 14.7%.
8. The number of individual qualifiers for the Commonwealth Games is down by 83.3%.

There is not a single measure of the organisation’s performance that has improved since Brian Palmer allowed Miskimmin to highjack the impetus for change. . Miskimmin and Moller detected weakness and exploited the vulnerable. In my opinion the performance of Swimming New Zealand is the Palmer, Radford, Miskimmin, Moller, Layton and Cotterill legacy of shame.

A generation of New Zealand swimming talent has been lost in the past six years. But do the architects care. I doubt it very much. Palmer was attracted by Saudi Arabian money and left the country. Radford still does swimming in Rotorua. Layton and Cotterill were promoted to Chairman of the organisation. The shambles of the opportunity lost in 2011 has not affected them at all.

But, what about 2018? Today I detect a similar mood for change. There is no leadership, but there seems to be an acceptance that Swimming New Zealand cannot stay the same. The results have been too catastrophic.

The Francis targeted athlete and club initiative suggests that even the employees of Swimming New Zealand understand the need to change. Our problem is that the management weakness that high-jacked the impetus for change in 2011 is just as prevalent in 2018. Already compromise is being accepted. Already the Francis plan is being compromised by the decision to keep the centralised Swimming New Zealand training program open. Exactly the same deal and double deal that screwed swimming in 2011 is in play today.

Even today witnessed the addition of Lewis Clareburt to the New Zealand Commonwealth Games team. I am unreservedly delighted for Lewis Clareburt. However my heart cries for the sport. Selecting a swimmer who has not done the qualifying time and is no more deserving than three or four others demonstrates the lack of values in the people at the top. While the selection may be great for the swimmer, members need to realize the damage done to the sport when leaders play fast and loose with the rules. Oh, I know they will quote one of their many escape clauses (4.3 d) to justify the deception.

But this selection shows the calibre of the people we are dealing with. And it is all bad. The selection of this New Zealand Commonwealth Games team demonstrates a respect for the rule of law that Kim Jong Un would recognise immediately. We need to remember that when we are dealing with matters concerning future change. Never trust a snake.

Francis and Johns are about to take their plans out on the road. It is of the utmost importance that the regions, the club, the coaches and the members demand a clean break with the past. Francis and Johns must get the message that having a foot in both camps; that Swimming New Zealand’s involvement in direct coaching, must end. That message must be crystal clear. There is no way in the world that I want to be sitting at a computer in another six years contemplating the sort of performance we have witnessed since 2011.

And so change matters. It appears as though there is an opportunity to make progress. The regions, the club, the coaches and the members must make sure it is not lost for a second time.