Final Layout Arrives

Yesterday the German publishing company, Meyer & Meyer, sent me the “book-ready” layout of my new book on swimming. It is not without reason that Meyer & Meyer are one of the world’s leading publishers of books on sport. They do a fantastic job. I am delighted with the way they have turned my manuscript into a book. Of course the written words are important but the manner of their presentation; the layout and design make a huge difference.

I had the same sense of admiration and wonder at their work with my first two books, “Swim to the Top” and “Swimming a Training Program”. All that remains to be done with the new book is to provide my final approval. That will not be a problem.

The title of the new book is “Shaping Successful Junior Swimmers”. It deals with a subject of huge importance. The dropout rate in swimming, through the teenage years, is a travesty. And it is not only a New Zealand problem. Countries all over the world seem to be incapable of keeping swimmers involved in the sport through their teenage years. The evidence almost everywhere suggests that about 85% of swimmers involved in the sport at 13 years of age will have given the whole thing away before they turn 18.

Usually the departing swimmers have to shoulder the blame for their early exit. We have all heard the accusations. “She got a boyfriend” or “He was getting behind with his homework” or “Playing video games took over” or “He just wasn’t dedicated” or “Swimming is boring”. The adults in the room have an innate ability to blame their teenagers for early retirement. Almost always leaving the sport is portrayed as some teenage deficiency; some character weakness characteristic of people between 12 and 18 years of age.

Coaches, parents and administrators all indulge in this blame game. And that is the greatest irony of all. Because, in my experience, it is the coaches, the parents and the administrators who are actually responsible for early teenage dropout. It is their fault. But, of course, they can’t blame themselves and so the retiring teenager becomes an easy target.

What my new book does is examine the actions of coaches, parents and administrators that lead to early dropout and suggests actions that should improve this terrible statistic.

I have some first-hand experience of the mistakes that can be made by coaches. I’ve made plenty of them. Foremost, of course, is the real hash I made of preparing Toni Jeffs for the Barcelona Olympic Games. I got her to train harder than she had ever trained before. This was the Olympic Games. The ultimate sacrifice was required. Sadly by the time we arrived at the Games she was so run-down any hope of a good performance was long gone. The book discusses these mistakes and other similar coaching errors that can and have led many swimmers to give the whole thing away. Coaching ego carries a huge responsibility for early teenage dropout.

The actions of many parents also lead to their children deciding to leave the sport early. Over years of coaching in New Zealand, the USA, the UK, the US Virgin Islands and Saudi Arabia I came across some wonderful examples of things parents should never do. Almost always parents behaving badly led to terminal consequences for their children. The book discusses many examples of bad swimming parents. The Wellington mother who saw no problem in entering her 12 year old son in a Newtown Park track meet on Saturday morning, the Vossler Shield cross country race around Mt. Victoria on Saturday afternoon and a Wellington League swim meet at the Kilbirnie Pool that same evening. The Delray Beach mother who tore a good club apart for her own power trip and lost her son’s swimming career in the process.

And administrators are not without blame. The sins of bad administration have been discussed many times on this blog. The book takes some of the worst examples of rogue administrators and discusses the damage they cause. Examples are provided of referees that have been caught cheating, of officials who cause harm to swimmers they don’t like and of other officials who stand idly to one side watching bad behaviour occur and do nothing about it. Dozens of early retirements are the direct result of poor and hurtful actions by bad administrators.

Two final chapters, I am particularly proud of, were written by Jane Copland and discuss the best way to approach retirement. They provide a valuable insight into what is a big and difficult step for every competitive swimmer.

So that’s what the book is about. It is a very important subject. I hope the 160 pages provide some insight into what can go wrong and actions that can address the hurt. I’m told the book will be – in “good bookshops” near you in about two months and of course will also be available on Amazon.com. I hope you enjoy.

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