British Diver Peter Waterfield Has His Funding Cut... Hits Out At British Swimming on Twitter

More criticism of British Swimming: When it rains, it pours.

Just a week after Tom Daley's mum publicly hit out at British Swimming CEO David Sparkes, Daley's diving partner Peter Waterfield has taken to twitter to criticise the fact that he wasn't informed of his funding cut by his own sport's governing body.

Waterfield is obviously disappointed to have his funding cut, and while not wanting to weigh in on the pros and cons of the decision, for him to have to hear about the decision from other sources is not a good look for British Swimming.

British Swimming is not the only governing body that has issues with their athletes, but the number of current and former swimmers that have publicly stated their displeasure in the organisation continues to grow at an alarming rate. The big question for this next Olympic cycle is whether their voices will be heard and change is implemented from the top down. Many swimmers and divers hope so.

British Swimming CEO David Sparkes, the Cat with 9 Lives, does it again

David Sparkes, arguably the least popular man in British Swimming, just can't help himself. Not only does he continue to disappoint a generation of swimmers, he's now turned his hand to taking shots at Britain's best diver.

After Tom Daley launched his new diving reality TV show Splash!, which outside of the Olympics, is diving's highest profile showcase ever in this country, Sparkes had the following to say about one of Britain's most popular athletes:

"Tom is an incredibly talented young man but he's yet to achieve his full potential and it's only going to get harder to achieve that Olympic gold medal as he gets older... You can rest assured the next Chinese diving superstar will not have such distractions from training."

Well Mr Sparkes... you didn't just upset the hundreds of thousands of Tom Daley fans, you upset his mum. This was Mrs. Daley's response to Sparkes' comments (published in the Daily Mail). One word, Zing!

Dear Mr Sparkes,

We last spoke at Loughborough in June 2011 after you asked for Tom to do a favour for you and open a sports park at Loughborough. I don't believe that you spoke much to Tom directly in 2012, other than to briefly congratulate him on his medal. Since the media is your preferred method of communication, I thought that I should do the same. 

As Tom's mum, I take a lot of pride in the way he handles himself. I am sure that he will make  mistakes along the way, but to date he is doing a lot right. I find it incredible that you want to criticise him so publicly, when he does so much for your organisation and for sport in the UK - and worse, you do it by giving your opinion without any thought. You did not speak to Tom - or his agent - first. Is this a good way for a CEO to operate?

As far as I'm aware, Tom was one of the few major success stories for British Swimming this summer... and possibly one of the athletes that helped you retain your job. Others say that your performance was the worst of any CEO in British sport. Surely you should be thanking Tom and showing your support and gratitude? 

His target was to achieve a medal and he delivered, becoming the first British individual diver in 52 years to get an Olympic medal. Not only this, but immediately after the Games, when most athletes were enjoying themselves, Tom went back to intense training for five weeks to prepare for the Junior World Championships. Since you didn't speak with Tom during this period, let me shed some light on how he coped. 

For an individual who is normally so motivated, going back to intense training after the climax of the Games was a real struggle: I'm sure he won't mind me saying he lacked drive and motivation. Andy Banks, his coach, expressed concern that this was being reflected in his training.  

Everyone else was taking long holidays, partying, celebrating exams, while Tom had to get straight back to diving. You must remember what you did the summer you were 18 years old?  We even discussed with Andy the option of him backing out of the competition. I was concerned Tom would crumble as the impact of the previous 24 months finally came on top of him. 

Perhaps you need to be reminded that not only was Tom taking on the pressures of the biggest sporting event in his life, not to mention a home Games, but during this period he also lost his biggest supporter, his dad. 

My bond with my son has always been strong but Rob was Tom's rock, friend and role model; he would be spitting mad if he had read your media attacks on him over the past 12 months and would have given you a franker view than mine. 

However, Tom didn't want to back out. While the competition had no real incentive for him, Tom had made the commitment to his performance director Alexei Evangulov and to British Diving and - despite me trying to convince him otherwise - he got his head down and ploughed on. He said he'd take a break after, so what was five more weeks of training? 

Any mum will know that for an 18-year-old to make this decision requires a lot of self-discipline. Tom was being offered opportunities left, right and centre to appear at exciting award ceremonies, red-carpet events, five-star holidays, not to mention the fact he hadn't 'hung out' with his friends for the past four months.   

So off to Australia he went alone (none of his direct coaching team went, which highlights the  importance of this competition) and he came away with not just one, but two gold medals  - one in an event he doesn't normally compete in. I was so proud of him. A great way to end the year. Now it was about time for my son to have some fun and let his hair down.  He had done his job. He had also played a key role in funding your organisation. So can you not see why I'm so angry with your lack of support? 

Your comments in February 2012 were a big enough blow: Tom was five months away from the biggest competition in his life where he should have as much support as possible and you spoke out to him via the media after Alexei had let emotion take over at a press conference and after Tom's team had met your team to discuss the real issues.

As it turned out, one of the issues then was that there was a lack of funding for a masseur for Tom, which Alexei wanted... so Tom - not British Swimming - funded this. From memory it cost Tom £3,000. We said nothing at the time. 

The other issue was a trip to Sydney Zoo organised by British Swimming where he was swamped by fans. Alexei hated this. However, British Swimming - not Tom - organised the visit. So to now see your remarks three-and-a-half years before the next Olympics makes me so angry.

Tom has always worked his hardest when it comes to his training. Diving has always taken priority.  We have all worked closely with Tom's coaching team (Andy and Alexei) plus Tom's agents to create a plan that ensures he has the best path for success. 

Do you communicate with anyone, David? Perhaps you should try to talk to Tom? Of course the headlines make you look important and help protect you should Tom not deliver any medals. Wouldn't it be better to work with one of your most important athletes rather than against him? 

Had you been kept up to date you would know that we all agreed to keep Tom's commercial days to a minimum and ensured no training was missed in the two years prior to the Games unless approved by everybody. 

The irony is that while all Tom's sponsors respected this and used no days in the months leading up to the Games, the only request that was not originally approved came from British Swimming. Funny how things change when it suits British Swimming! 

It's also baffling that you openly criticise Tom when you yourself have called in special favours for Tom to make appearances (such as that eight-hour trip to Loughborough in 2011 when I last saw you).   

Tom trained in December, also attending an intensive training camp the week before Christmas, and continues to train this month. Splash! is now one weekend day of his time. His coach and mentor is also part of the show. If you were worried, why did you not speak to Andy? If you had actually watched Splash! you would have seen him as a judge. 

The Chinese comparisons really annoy me - and I know that they annoy Tom. He was not born in  Beijing. He was born in Plymouth. I saw a documentary a few years  ago which showed the Chinese boot-camp style of training in sport. This is not Tom. He would not  function if his life was just diving. 

He is very bright, works incredibly hard and over the last 10 years has given up so much to focus on his 2012 Olympic goal. I know that he will do the same for 2016. However, Tom is never going to lead a lifestyle similar to a Chinese diver. 

I am sure that he will always be the best he can be in his sport. Splash! is an appropriate show for Tom. Yes, it can improve following the first show. However, a lot of grandparents, mums, teenagers and kids loved it.

As you did not watch the show, I can tell you that it is a diving show and it promotes a key sport that is under your leadership.

You told Tom's agent on Monday that it would do nothing to help the sport in the UK. How ironic to see that your marketing department has today promoted watching Splash! on Twitter to British Swimming's followers. So you are worried about Tom's performances? Well, I am worried about yours.

A leader should  motivate his team, not make them think: 'Why do I bother?' Did you speak out to protect your UK Sport funding and be seen to do the right thing for them? Well, if UK Sport want to demotivate the key person in a sport, carry on David. Good work. 

While you may want Tom to do more training, I would like you to do leadership, media and motivation courses. Tom may benefit from some UK Sport funding but he has to fund his own life from sponsorship and media work. When the Splash! opportunity came to us, it was a completely appropriate one for him and we also believed that it would help our sport long term - there is not a lot of diving or swimming for that matter on television, David. That is meant to be your job. 

Tom, though, is just giving some advice and encouragement - and having some fun. I am glad that he is doing Splash! even though I don't like to read negative reviews of the show. Those opinions, though, I can handle. Yours I would like you to manage given your role within the sport and the impact that it is having on my son.

Yours sincerely, 

Debbie Daley

Ellen Gandy Defects, Australia Celebrates

Ellen Gandy has 'done a Fargus' and chosen to represent Australia in future international competitions. Having been based in Australia for five years and citing difficult travelling arrangements back and forth to Britain for trials, Gandy has taken the major step of switching allegiances.

It is safe to say the Aussies are pleased...

Burning Questions

•  Could British Swimming have done more to keep Gandy swimming for her homeland? This is the second high profile change of allegiance in the last few years following Ben Hockin's switch to Paraguay.

• Coming a day after the review into Britain's failure, is the timing of Gandy's decision a coincidence / a direct response / a kick in the nuts?

•  Will Gandy go full Aussie in future interviews?

- Journalist: "How do you feel about your switch to Australia?"
- Gandy: "True blue mate. It's all fair dinkum, British swimming's leadership is a brown-eyed mullet"


In recognition of her service to the nation she leaves behind, here is a reminder of Gandy's best moment as a British swimmer...

 

Rebecca Adlington: British Head Coach situation "is an absolute mess"

Click the image to see the interview

Michael Scott resigns - British Swimming at a crossroads

Following British Swimming's underwhelming performance in London this summer, Michael Scott has fallen on his sword and resigned from his post as National Performance Director.

Scott could not accept living in Britain permanently, which really does not seem like such a big thing to ask of someone reportedly making £1.2m. It is even more startling that he was able to spend half of his time in Australia since he started in his role back in 2007. It becomes less of a surprise when you realise David Sparkes, the CEO of British Swimming, also splits time between Britain and his adopted homeland of Germany and has done for several decades.

Scott seems like a perfectly pleasant guy, very capable in some facets of the position, but ultimately he didn't get the job done at a home Olympics, which is an unforgivable failure given Britain's success in other major sports.

British Swimming is at a crossroads and they now have two key roles to fill, Head Coach and Performance Director... many would argue they should have three roles to fill with David Sparkes, unpopular with some high profile members of the British Swimming fraternity, also being made to stand down.

It is vital that British Swimming get these hires right. They have spent the last decade under foreign rule and in that time we have undoubtedly improved in certain areas, but after seeing a team that to the outside world appeared to be more nervous than raring to go in London, it seems like the time for some home grown, British based appointments is nigh.

Head Coach Candidates

Bill Furniss - Nova Centurion head coach (coach of Rebecca Adlington)

Coaching Britain's most successful swimmer gives Furniss tremendous gravitas and having headed up Nova Centurion for many years would presumably relish one last challenge at the forefront of British Swimming. Has had a swimmer on every British team at major championships for the last 30 years. Possesses no shortage of northern grit, which some feel Britain needs to get back to post-Bill Sweetenham.

Jon Rudd - Plymouth Leander head coach (coach of Ruta Meilutyte)

Rudd has built Plymouth Leander into the country's leading swimming team having won the Arena League four out of the last five years. He was also the only British-based coach to have a gold medal winning swimmer in London, Lithuanian Ruta Meilutyte. Rudd's stock has risen more than any other coach in the last 6 months and if he wants the job, he would offer an intriguing option for British Swimming.

Dave Haller - City of Cardiff head coach (former coach of David Davies)

A left-field option given his criticism of Kevin Renshaw and British Swimming in the over-training of David Davies. Not many British coaches can match up to the experience and continued success that Haller has had at Cardiff. His outspoken nature would stand no chance with the current hierarchy, but if David Sparkes resigns it might open the door.

Patrick Miley -  Garioch head coach (coach of Hannah Miley)

Miley has produced on the Britain's premier swimmers, his daughter Hannah, despite not having any of the luxuries provided by the bigger swimming establishments. He is also a proponent of cutting-edge training techniques, which British Swimming might want to expose to a wider group. If the goal is also to make the team tougher and more race hardened, Hannah Miley is one of the toughest swimmers around and races more than anyone.


Performance Director Direction

Swimming's own Dave Brailsford?

One possible direction for Performance Director could be to try and emulate cycling's highly successful approach. Dave Brailsford was a professional cyclist for 4 years before he went on to study sport science and psychology. He then joined British Cycling as an advisor and worked his way through the ranks. It is a potentially risky move, but if there is a young, intelligent, forward-thinking employee within British Swimming, why not give them a shot? There is certainly no shortage of sports science graduates in Loughborough.

An outsider from a different sport?

If there is no obvious domestic candidate with a proven success in swimming, so we could potentially hire someone that has experienced success in another sport. Poaching someone from one of Britain's successful sports (rowing, cycling, athletics, cricket) is a very real possibility. The fact that Conor O'Shea, the Director of Rugby at Harlequins, is sitting on the review board indicates that British Swimming is starting to be open to input from other sports.

Back to the international talent pool

There is a school of thought amongst some in the swimming community that Britain's lack of success was not down to Michael Scott, in which case having a foreign performance director might not be the problem. Despite the expected funding cuts, the money that British Swimming will throw at this position could lure a number of high profile candidates from swimming's successful nations.

Alternative option

Burn it all down

It's all broken. Nothing works. Everyone needs to be fired. Burn the whole thing down and rebuild British Swimming from the ground up. Not my personal view, but it is an opinion shared by some in the swimming community.

We will learn more when the review into the failure of London 2012 is released on December 6.

Video of Missy Franklin Doing The Worm. Wait, what?

(Video via Nick Zaccardi)

Some solid moves on display from Missy Franklin, but she still has some way to go before she reaches the level of skill shown by the British swimmers in 2008.

British Olympic Trials - Predictions

The BBC's Karen Pickering and Steve Parry have made their picks ahead of the British Olympic Trials, which start tomorrow.

I've added my picks to the list. Use the comment section to make your picks, agree, disagree, troll... all comments are welcome!

British Stars Get Their Season Underway

A group of top British swimmers got their Olympic seasons underway in a low-key manner at last weekend's Lincoln Vulcans Open Meet (long course metres). Despite being in heavy training, Elizabeth Simmonds and Fran Halsall managed to put together a world class duel in the 100m Backstroke.

Notable performances

Elizabeth Simmonds - 100m Back - 1:00.70 (split 29.61)
Francesca Halsall - 100m Back - 1:01.15 (split 29.76)
Francesca Halsall - 50m Free - 25.13
Francesca Halsall - 100m Fly - 59.63
Liam Tancock - 100m Breast - 1:04.18 (split 30.25)
Rebecca Adlington - 200m IM - 2:18.70
Rebecca Adlington - 200m Back - 2:15.71
Jo Jackson - 100m Free - 56.51

Full results

British Swimming Finds a New Star

Express and Star Water baby Caitlin Morris has caused a sensational splash by swimming unaided across the nine-metre width of a pool – at the age of just two. Caitlin, from Stourport, could swim before she could walk and her doggy-paddle style stroke got her across the width in 47 seconds.

YES! We've done it! Britain has found their very own 'wonderkid'! Step aside Michael Phelps, Ian Thorpe, Missy Franklin etc... Caitlin Morris will soon make you all look like Eric Moussambani. Here is a serious question: Will London 2012 come too soon for Caitlin Morris?


Did anyone else shed a tear when they read 'Caitlin could swim before she could walk'? This is exactly what we should be doing here in Britain. For the record, I 100% agree with this new trend of water-dwelling athletes. It is the future of our sport.

If a major sports agency is not actively trying to sign up Caitlin, then they need to find a new profession. Why? Because Caitlin Morris IS 'Straight Cash, Homey'.

(Thanks to Swimmer's Daily for the video)

German Nationals, Mare Nostrum Swimming Tour, British Nationals

German Nationals, 31 May - 5 June

Germany's swimming stars get their first and only chance to stamp their tickets to Shanghai.


Start List
Results
Qualifying Times - Very tough!



Mare Nostrum Tour

A great sneak preview of some of the world's elite swimmers ahead of July's World Championships.



Barcelona, 4-5 June

Start List

Canet, 8-9 June

Start List
Results

Monaco, 11-12 June

Start Lists and Results


British ASA Nationals, 14-17 June

British swimmers get another chance to make the team for Shanghai. While many swimmers have already booked their place on the plane, other stalwarts of British Swimming such as Jo Jackson, Lizzie Simmonds, Kris Gilchrist and Robbie Renwick are yet to nail down individual spots.


Results
Programme

Thoughts from the Germany - Great Britain Duel

This article originally appeared on The Swimmers Circle

Last weekend saw two of European Swimming’s powerhouse nations go head to head against each other in the second edition of their ‘Duel In The Pool’. Big news, right? Well…. not really. Most swimming fans probably weren’t even aware it happened. For an indication of how much coverage it received, here is the four sentence recap from the British Swimming website.

Here are my slightly longer thoughts from the Germany vs Great Britain Duel. Results Here. For what it’s worth, Germany defeated the UK 240-195.


Positives

- It’s great that the dual meet concept, so successful in US collegiate swimming, is being furthered in Europe. Our sport continually searches for new ideas to stay relevant and popular in non-Olympic years. To have two nations, with such a great sporting rivalry*, go head-to-head is exactly the type of meet that could do wonders for the sport of swimming.

The concept should be an easy sell for TV too. Get two top nations and their star swimmers, boil the action down to a single day and let battle commence.

(* The rivalry is certainly intense in Britain, although the Germans tend to savour beating their neighbours the Dutch a little more.)

- Germany, who picked the strongest team it had available and was only weakened with the late withdrawals of Britta Steffen and Paul Biedermann (romantic weekend away, perhaps), were boosted by the return of World Silver medalist Helge Meeuw: their leading male backstroker.

Meeuw had a solid, if not spectacular return. He won the 50m Back in 25.80 and swam 55.13 on the lead-off of the men’s 4 x 100m Medley relay, although he could only muster 56.84 in the individual 100m Back. Assuming Meeuw can get back to his best, the German Medley team, silver medalists in Rome with Meeuw on Back, Hendrik Feldwehr on Breast, Benjamin Starke on Fly and Paul Biedermann on Free, will have an outside chance at getting back on the medal podium at Worlds this year.

- Britain’s women showed their impressive strength in depth. Despite missing leading figures such as Rebecca Adlington, Gemma Spofforth, Lizzie Simmonds, Fran Halsall and Joanne Jackson, the British women were still able to win 13 of the 17 individual events. Jaz Carlin, star of the same meet last year, swept the middle distance freestyle events and will once again battle with Rebecca Adlington and Joanne Jackson for the two individual spots for Worlds this year.

- The Europe vs USA Duel In The Pool in Manchester 2009 was one of the best swimming events ever witnessed on these shores. Not only was it televised on the BBC, it was also made into great entertainment. That is the level all future Duel’s should aim for, however the idea can only be sold if the countries top swimmers compete and its held at a time when the teams are not in heavy training.

The obvious time to hold such a meet is soon after major competitions, long course or short course, where swimmers are rested and tapered. Some good news: the next installment of Europe vs USA is set to take place in Atlanta on December 18-19, shortly after US Short Course Nationals (Dec 1-3) and the European Short Course Champs (Dec 8-11).

Negatives

- This meet was held in Essen, Germany in a pool that didn’t have a stand for spectators. The teams were also not released until a few days before the competition began for ‘tactical reasons’, stifling any potential buzz about the contest.

- British Swimming sent a young, talented team, but ultimately one that lacked the majority of its major stars. There was no Rebecca Adlington, Gemma Spofforth, Lizzie Simmonds, Fran Halsall, Joanne Jackson, Liam Tancock or James Goddard. It was, for all intents and purposes, a B team.

Whilst I have no problem with sending a young team to gain international experience, call a spade a spade. Why withhold the team list for tactical reasons when you are sending an inexperienced team going up against a full strength German team in the first place? Why not send this team to a competition such as the Luxembourg Euro Meet to gain experience and have the Duel with Germany at a time when both nations are willing to select their strongest teams?

- There will be a Great Britain vs Russia meet held March 18-20 (a week after British Nationals) in Moscow. Unfortunately the selection policy states, ‘Swimmers who are world ranked top 10 (2 per nation) in an individual Olympic event will not be eligible to represent Great Britain at the GB v Russia Duel Meet 2011.’ This means that once again the British team will not include many of its stars and the meet will quite possibly receive a similar level of hype that the German Duel did.

- Great Britain vs Germany had been scheduled for another encounter in 2012, but this has now been cancelled. I hope that this doesn’t signal the beginning of the end of a great concept that has never really been fully explored to its full potential through a combination of poor planning and execution.