Gary Hall Jr. Says Australian Swimming Lacks Direction
Once again, I must say thank you to Gary Hall Jr. In an article published by Rebecca Williams of the AAP, Hall Jr. claimed that Australian swimming lacks direction and has not moved forward since the Sydney Olympics.
I guess I can partially agree with that statement. I think that there is direction, just not the same strong handed direction there was in the 1990’s. The men have really gone backwards since Sydney as Gary stated, but is it all their fault?
The men have lost some of their best to retirement, and despite anyone’s claims that they can be good without him, Ian Thorpe’s leaving the sport has cut the legs off of the Australian men’s team. Grant Hackett cannot lead the team on his own, despite any performance he can pull out of his cap. Leadership at all levels is needed.
The three-time Olympian claimed the Australians lacked the direction they had under former head coach Don Talbot.
“If it’s a rebuilding time for Team Australia, the contractor is out to lunch,” Hall said. “It is disappointing to me that the incredible momentum that Australia had surrounding the 2000 Olympics hasn’t carried. Love him or hate him, Don Talbot gave that team direction. I don’t see that now.”
I think that you are dead-on Gary. I do think there is leadership, but it is not the strong leadership and direction that Talbot brought to the table and played a role in making Australian swimmers what they were. Now we have Alan Thompson blaming the media for the swimmers’ demise? Come on. Look internal and not external to the situation and maybe you can right this ship.
There was a lot of momentum lost after not capitalizing on the successes in Sydney, but there is a future in the making for swimming in Australia. But leadership is needed to guide them to international successes.
On a lighter note: I still laugh that Australian media loves to talk of Gary Hall Jr.’s famous “we’ll smash them like guitars” statement before Sydney. Talk about taking something out of context. But then again, what do you think Gary - will Cullen, Neil, Jason and Michael smash them like guitars in a few weeks?
Comment by Tony Austin
Posted on March 1st, 2007 at 14:01
Gary Hall is so on. The men’s Australian team is going to get hosed just like that got hosed and Pan Pacs. Even the Japanese beat them there and I think the Europeans are going to beat them as well.
It’s my opinion that Ian Thorpe did retire for the reasons he stated but that the beating he and his team are going to take at the World Swimming Championships in his own neighborhood hastened that retirement.
Take Grant Hackett, he is proffering excuses all ready.
Comment by Gary Hall Jr.
Posted on March 1st, 2007 at 22:16
Look, I didn’t slam Australian Swimming as some pinhead on another website suggests. I am disappointed that the Australian team has faltered since Sydney, I’m not reveling in it.
Didn’t Scotland do better than Australia in the gold count at last summer’s Pan Pacs? Is it crazy to think that the results are going to be much different about seven months later? Anybody in the swimming world knows that the US is going to beat Australia if they aren’t DQ’d.
There are still great swimmers and coaches in Australia, it’s a seaworthy ship. It just doesn’t have a rudder. If that responsibility was put on anyone after Don Talbot left, the entire country looked longingly toward Ian Thorpe expecting him to draw a sword and lead the charge. It didn’t happen, and it was unbelievable pressure for Ian I am sure.
It’s my estimate and I’m entitled to it. As a point of interest I find it supportive of my belief that Ian has continued to address this responsibility since his retirement acting as an advisor/mentor to the younger swimmers “putting back into the team”.
http://www.timedfinals.com/18022007/ian-thorpe-to-mentor-australian-swimmers/
And yeah, for those that can’t spell it out Alan Thompson is the contractor. I think it absurd that he blames the media for his team’s poor performances.
It’s a far cry from the enlightened Eddie Reese who had this to say, “So many times we think we - and our workouts - are the reason one or two swimmers do well. Sometimes the special athlete will make all of that look good, and the athlete is the reason, not the workouts. Very simply, I take credit for every bad swim and try to fix myself and the program from there,” says Reese.
I’m not being a zealous patriot. Eddie demonstrates the character of a great team leader, something Australian Swimming lacks at the moment. For this reason alone one could expect the US team to beat Australia.
Comment by Woodward
Posted on March 1st, 2007 at 23:22
Small correction: That would be the Commonwealths not the Pan-Pacs.
Gary Hall, Jr. for Australian Performance Director. Pass it on.
Tony … the Australians didn’t send their full squad to Pan-Pacs last year for the first time. Though it wouldn’t have made a massive difference in overall team placings.
Obviously the Australian men’s team is back to Atlanta or even Barcelona levels. But obviously it’s the women that have picked up the slack. It can be cyclical. In the 90s it was the reverse with mainly Riley and O’Neill carrying the weight of the women’s team.
Comment by Tony Austin
Posted on March 1st, 2007 at 23:46
I got the fact that Australia lost a lot of equity when Talbot left and that it is a de facto crime how the men’s swimming there has degraded. As a result I think they will lose badly at worlds.
I know that Gary Hall Jr. is not talking trash or “talking story” as the Hawaiians say; (I know I talk a pretty good trashy story but enough about my problems with facts), but rather he is talking from the heart because we need swimming to be successful down under to keep interest and money flowing globally.
Having said that, it is astonishing what has become of Australian men’s swimming and that they are going to get hosed by the likes of Jones, Magnini, Schoeman, Lezak, Phelps, perhaps Jensen, et al.
The women’s team has to face Manaudou, Hoff, Coughlin, Zeigler, Weir, et al., but they will shine but not dominate.
What are they doing right?
Comment by Aussie_Swimming
Posted on March 2nd, 2007 at 09:01
I don’t disagree entirely with these comments.
I do believe however not all is grim.
The Australian mens team in particular is definately not the force it used to be in the late 1990s, when we had top ranked swimmers in all four strokes, and even a world record in the 100 fly.
Perhaps for a country with a recent record like Australia, and one where swimming is highly regarded, that fact is a shame.
However, I don’t believe the current standing of the mens team is extremely shameful. Even at the 2005 Worlds the team managed to pick up bronze medals in the 4×100free and 4×200free minus Ian Thorpe (and with makeshift teams), and their showing at Pan Pacs was more hopeful than worrying.
The former head coach, Leigh Nugent went back to being the National Youth Coach, and it seems there is a lot of focus on the development of youth talent, and it definately shows, not just on the womens side, but also on the mens side. Teenagers like Monk, Ffrost, Arnamnart and Donald continue to climb up the rankings so all is not lost.
I think that’s where the ‘direction’ is focused.
Realistically though, only Grant Hackett, Brenton Rickard and Eamon Sullivan have a chance to win medals in individual events. The emergence of Rickard and Sullivan in the past few years though is a success story in itself.
I think Alan Thompson had an uphill task after 2004 and it may take a while to see the benefits of his plans but from what I understand there is continued work from him in improving the team.
Comment by Woodward
Posted on March 2nd, 2007 at 14:21
I think some of this criticism is off the mark and some of it is on target.
Swimming is cyclical. Talent and luck are part of the equation. I don’t think Thompson or other coaches/officials are responsible for the drop in depth in men’s swimming. But I think there can be some criticism directed at their reaction and attitude towards this slump. Performances in Sydney raised expectations … at least for awhile. Australians should maintain high expectations … not dwell on the retirement of Ian and the twilight of Grant. End the nostalgia. They don’t need another Ian and Grant to get back to where they were in Sydney. That shouldn’t be the thought process. It’s good that much of the public and the Australian media still have high expectations … Thompson and others shouldn’t attempt to downplay them and prod the media to be more realistic and positive.
The US men could have similar problems heading into London. It’s a ways off but where is the depth among the juniors? How many of our top swimmers are under 20? How many genuinely promising young prospects? Not all men break out as teenagers but in 2000 we had Peirsol, Crocker, and Phelps making the Olympic team as young teenagers … Ian was 17, Aaron was 16, and Michael was actually 14 at trials. Now that is quite young. But even from ages 17 to 19 where are the future stars? The flurry of male age group records we saw then isn’t happening now. Most of the record breaking youngsters are girls. The question is … how will USA Swimming address it? Or even how IS USA Swimming addressing it?
Back to the Australian team … depth wise they are not that far off their Sydney team if you look at it holistically not accounting for gender. They didn’t have great depth there. They basically had O’Neill … and some minor medal swimmers (e.g. 14 year old Liesel Jones). But it doesn’t help from a rivalry stand point when there is this sort of imbalance. Will the Duel in the Pool this year look like the most recent one … where everyone forgets the overall standings and focuses on the contest between the two women’s teams?
Comment by Tony Austin
Posted on March 2nd, 2007 at 15:44
I do not think that swimming has been cyclical in the United States. This may be due to wealth or population but we have always put up a formidable team.
As for London, I am sure we have several 17-year-olds in the wings getting outstanding coaching and nutrition. We may even meet a couple at trials next year.
As for London, Dara Torres may be there too. ;-)
Now there is an article.
Comment by gheko
Posted on March 4th, 2007 at 03:43
When Don Talbot was at the helm Aussie mens swimming was on the up!
Comment by Sprinteur
Posted on March 4th, 2007 at 15:16
When you say “A implies B”, then you have to prove that A was before B, that B should not have existed without A, and that every occurrence of A implies an occurrence of B.
So “When Don Talbot was at the helm Aussie mens swimming was on the up!” is a bit short an explanation for Aussie’s strength at one time, and still shorter an explanation for the relative lack of strength of the same team.
Ian Thorpe is not born from Don, my guess is Ian should have been a great swimmer under Alan Thompson’s sole direction, probably even with an other coach and in other times (see Eddie Reeve’s interview also published by Craig Lord in swimnews.com).
Probably Gary has more insight and knowledge of Don Talbot and Alan Thompson than we mere swimmers may have, but we have to admit that there is seldom one single factor for such a complex situation as a swimming team position in the world ranking, and Gary’s position is more complex than that.
So we should rather discuss that calmly: probably Craig Lord did not properly understand Gary’s words, and probably Gary did not like his article for cause, but both of them serve swimming and its mainstream audience, so let’s have pleasure to read both of them and comment about the arguments of each other.
Comment by Hackett Believes Australian Men Are Improving - Timed Finals
Posted on March 6th, 2007 at 10:32
[…] Gary Hall Jr. believes that, despite “lack of direction,” the Australians are a “seaworthy ship.” Apparently so does Grant Hackett, who says that Australia’s men are closing the gap on the “powerful” Americans. I would not go that far. Certainly the men could be headed in the right direction, but they are still far, far behind not only the Americans but much of the world. […]
Comment by Aussie_Swimming
Posted on March 7th, 2007 at 04:34
Prior to 1998 and after 2001 mens swimming in Australia looked much the same.
Granted, in the 1990s the mens side did see a few minor medal winners in various strokes and we haven’t seen that since 2001 but generally in terms of gold medal winners there have only been a few, and they’ve all come in freestyle.
Keiren Perkins in freestyle in 92 and 96 and Thorpe and Hackett in freestyle in 2000 and 2004 won gold medals at the Olympics.
Between 1998 and 2001 the Australian mens team saw a lot more success and a lot more improvement in terms of times. The successes came from the younger talent of Thorpe and Hackett who continued their improvement, and from the older swimmers; Klim and Welsh who were already in their mid 20s.
Now Hackett is in his mid 20s and the coaches are looking at developing the younger talent to step up and contribute to the team.
That obviously has taken some time but it’s starting to develop.
Australia simply doesn’t have the depth that the US has but I do believe the current coaches are taking many measures to develop the talent of young swimmers.
Comment by Jim Findlay
Posted on December 28th, 2007 at 18:43
I believe Gary Hall Jr is correct because Australian swimming is fragmented. It’s a bit like the Banking industry back in the 70’s & 80’s when they decided to hire anyone with a Uni degree for placement directly into middle manarment positions (maybe to save time and money) then they found out the new recruits didn’t have underpinning knowledge to make it work. It seems the only Aussie coaches with a bit of understanding of the situation is the older semi retired ones that are still using endurance training sessions. But the problem comes from a lack of understanding with what to give the swimmers at all levels. Anyone can become a qualified swim coach in Australia by attending a two day course and doing some hours with a coach that has his qualification for a few years and they don’t even have to know how to swim. Maybe all these so called hot shots should have a “used by date” to perform. I haven’t heard the name Doug Frost mentioned but I believe it was Doug that was responsible for the Ian Thorpe phase of Australian Swimming. Ian seemed to go down hill when he changed coaches. Australian Swimmers need experienced direction and an introduction to international swimming at an earlier age due to the isolation of the country. Sadly it is only the winners that get recognition in Australia and it’s only if they win on an elevated level. It’s more than lack of direction it is the whole process that needs fixing.
Comment by gheko
Posted on January 1st, 2008 at 03:42
Most of the swim coaches in Australia are amatuers, they are not paid mega bucks to coach even the elite swimmers, We do not have a college system here, its totally different from the US.