Swimmers Criticised In Official Report

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31658, 19 April 1968, Page 15

Swimmers Criticised In Official Report

A lack of strong physical condition was undoubtedly the greatest weakness of New Zealand’s international swimmers, says Mr S. Williams, manager of the Dominion team which swam against the Canadians in eight meetings during February.

This assessment was made by Mr Williams in his tour report, which will be presented to the halfyearly meeting of the Amateur Swimming Association on April 27. Before the start of the tour, he said, the manager of the Canadian team (Mr R. Gilchrist) was able to state with conviction that the New Zealanders were not conditioned to “real racing,” although he had not seen any of them in action. “He explained that, based on times recorded for 110yds, the times returned for 220yds were so slow as to be almost unbelievable," said Mr Williams. An examination of the New Zealand swimmers’ times showed that good 110 yd efforts were followed by a distinct falling away over 220yds and 440yds—“which could mean

only a lack ef real condition,” be said. The report said there was a wide difference between the training methods of the Canadians and New Zealanders. The supposedly half-fit Canadians worked harder and longer than their rivals throughout the tour. Mr Williams said he had been taken to task because he had asked the New Zealand swimmers to include a little sprinting in their workouts. When the team assembled in Auckland he made this point, but said he expected the swimmers to work to schedules from their coaches. “Only one swimmer, M. Borrie, had a written schedule,” he said. “None of them worked to a very consistent scheme of things. Too often playing, talking and fooling around the diving well would have been the order of the day but for constant effort by Mrs J. Nesbit (the chaperon) and myself. This was from a team supposedly instructed

by their coaches about how they should train.” Mr Williams said there was a great need for more drive and inspiration from the coaches, and greater dedication by the swimmers. There had to be a real willingness by the swimmers to drive themselves hard in training.