Yesterday’s post described my immediate reaction to the Swimming New Zealand (SNZ) Wellington high performance meeting. I have now had time to consider what was said in more detail. And, if anything, the Francis’ plan gets worse by the minute. I guess there are many who would assume that would be my reaction and will dismiss it with a shrug and a, “What else would you expect?” It is therefore important to explain clearly why the plan is so bad. This post will attempt to provide that clarification.

The Francis’ plan is replacing the SNZ Centralised Training Centre policy. For eighteen years the policy of centralised training has been promoted by SNZ and HPSNZ as the key to international swimming success. Shows what they know. Lack of success has finally forced them into the realisation that the policy was flawed and to come up with something new – hence the Francis plan. It is off the point but the fact it took SNZ and HPSNZ eighteen years to realise the obvious flaws in centralised training is a criminal disgrace. Two generations of young committed swimmers’ lives were lost on an altar of their bigoted stupidity. And no one paid for their vandalism.

And now we have SNZ’s idea of a “new way”; a replacement for the centralised model. We have the Francis’ plan. I never write in capital letters but let me be very clear on this point.

“THE FRANCIS’ PLAN IS AS BAD AS THE CENTRALISED POLICY IT IS INTENDED TO REPLACE”

It will fail for many of the reasons the old policy failed. The inherent problems of the old policy remain and are on full display in the new Francis’ version. For example, in the old policy, swimmers were selected on the basis of speed and shipped off to Auckland for a swimming life of privilege. In the Francis’ plan swimmers are still going to be selected on the basis of speed. The only difference is their deportation to Auckland has been dropped. Now Francis plans to provide their life of privilege at their home program. The poison of arrogance is about to spread to every club in the country. At least in the old plan self-importance was contained in Antares Place. Now your club can be infected too. But you may be lucky. Francis may decide your local coach is no good, in which case, he told the meeting, he would recommend a flight to Australia or presumably to the, dishonestly retained, Millennium squad.

It is as though the brains trust in Antares Place decided that the old policy’s forced deportation was its singular weakness. Fix that and all would be well. Of course because the diagnosis was flawed the cure is equally faulty. I will attempt to highlight the faults.

The principle of selection on the basis of speed is defective. It damages those who miss out on selection and it damages those who make the selection times. The members of one group see themselves as failures and go off to surf or play water polo. Those who make the cut begin to see their life of privilege as a right and adopt a fatal arrogance. In other words the primary faults of the old policy remain unaddressed in the new.

I have mentioned before the inclusive team character of the swimmers and runners coached by Lydiard, Jelley and Schubert. John Walker, Dick Quax and Rod Dixon happily went running with me. There is not a lot of class selection there. That democracy was important. It boosted my ego no end and it kept the champions grounded. SNZ will have no idea what I’m talking about, but the concept of inclusion is important – especially in New Zealand. The exclusion inherent in the old centralised plan and in the new Francis’ plan is fatal.

I doubt there is a parent anywhere who wants their offspring to feel failures or to be subject to the insufferable arrogance of privilege. Both are wrong; both are unnecessary. Therefore my recommendation is that if Gary Francis comes knocking, tell him politely, no thank you and ask him to leave. There are many better ways than the Francis’ plan – ways that do not involve the risks of the Francis’ plan.

A fundamental problem in the old centralised plan was that it weakened the coaching and club infrastructure throughout New Zealand. As the message went out from SNZ that the best coaching was only available in the pool at Antares Place the effect on the rest of the country was catastrophic. Treated like second class citizens New Zealand coaches began to act the same way. At least the new Francis’ plan does not have a trip to Auckland as its first option. Now swimmers can stay in their home programs unless Gary Francis suspects the coach is not up to the job in which case Francis told us he would exercise the option of a trip to Australia or Auckland.

Lydiard or Jelley would never act that way. They were educators in the true sense of that word. They instructed and tutored trainee coaches and athletes. They deliberately strengthened the coaching infrastructure and competitive performance. How do I know? Because I was a direct beneficiary of the educational care offered by both men. They didn’t say to Alison or Toni that they should get another coach in Australia. No, they guided and directed me on how to be a better coach.

But a better example is the four times Olympic Gold Medallist, Lasse Viren. He lived and trained in the small Finnish town of Myrskyla, population 1992. That’s about half the size of a New Zealand town like Waipukurau. When Lydiard took over as the Finland national coach he didn’t recommend Viren shift to the big city but worked with his coach, Rolf Haikkola. Together they put together a program that won the 5,000 and 10,000 at two Olympic Games. The clear intent behind the Francis’ plan is to dismiss small town programs in favour of North Shore or Australia. And the result will further weaken swimming in New Zealand.

Francis showed his true colours when he proudly told us the story of recently sending a New Zealand swimmer to train in Australia and approving the plan to continue wasting money on the Centralised National Swim Program. My advice is – don’t trust him. Your swimmer could be next on his list of Australian swimming refugees.

The function and purpose of a SNZ elite program should be to strengthen swimming throughout the country; to create an environment where success is just as possible from Greymouth and Taumaranui as it is from United or Capital. Sadly that is not the way the new Francis’ plan is going to work. The arrogant “we know best” that killed eighteen years of the centralised policy is just as alive and well in the new Francis’ version. If this is the best SNZ have in mind – stay well away.