Inconsistent decision by Swimming Assn

Press, 8 March 1982, Page 20

Inconsistent decision by Swimming Assn

The Canterbury backstroke swimmer, Kara Taumaunu, has been the unwitting loser of an inconsistent decision by the New Zealand Amateur Swimming Association. At the New Zealand age-group championships in Masterton, Taumaunu’s meeting record for the 15 years 290 m backstroke was bettered by Frazer Brown (Hawke’s Bay-Poverty Bay). Taumaunu’s meeting record, was set in a long-course pool at Feilding last year. The Hansellssponsored championships were in. a short-course pool in Masterton and there lies the inconsistency. Short-course pools produce faster times than long-course pools because swimmers make three turns in the 100 m race compared to two in a longcourse pool, and every turn gives a swimmer a time advantage. The majority of age-group championships are swum in longcourse pools, and on the few occasions they have been in short-course pools, the meeting records have been converted using an internationally accepted /conversion table.' ; r ,;v

Before the Mastertbn championships, the last time the agegroup championships were held

in a short-course pool was in 1979 at Tauranga. Then, meet records were . converted from long-course to the faster shortcourse times. At Masterton,' however, the times were not converted, and it was extremely fortunate for the N.Z.A.S.A. that of the 34 meeting records broken, only Brown’s did not convert to a new record. His time at Masterton, 2min 17.95, converted to 2min 18.35, which would have been 0.3 s outside Taumaunu’s meeting record. The decision not to convert the meeting record times last week was made by the president of the N.Z.A.SA. (Mr E McPhee) and a member of the association’s council, Mr M. R. Duckmanton, whom Mr McPhee consulted. There is nothing in the association’s rules to say that the times have to be converted,” said Mr McPhee. That may be so, but' the decision whether to convert the times, or not to convert them, was important enough to be made by the council of the association, and not two of its members in a telephone conversation. - , - ” Clive Power, the coach of Taumaiinu, and the New Zealand

Swimming Coaches Association delegate to the N.Z.A.S.A. council, called the decision “a farce.” “There has to be some standardisation. They can’t chop and change with records like that. It gives swimmers a false sense of perspective. Next year they will have to swim in a. long-course pool and if the kids don’t get near the records people will come down on them like a ton of bricks saying “Swimming’s going backwards.” “I am sure the coaches association would be totally against not converting the times,” said Mr Power. The Canterbury team manager at Masterton, Mr T. J. Whitta, lodged a protest on Taumaunu’s behalf at Masterton after it was announced the record had been broken. The protest, heard by Messrs Duckmanton, McPhee and Mr R. N. Smith, the chairman of the association’s swimming sub-com-mittee, was thrown out. But the ?10 protest fee was given back to Mr Whitta, ah indication he believes, that the consciences of the protest committed were pricked. Mr Smith said that "no-one’s conscience was pricked. It was

felt there should perhaps be two sets of meeting records, but the matter will be discussed at council level.” “The situation is more complex than it looks. The short medleys aren’t covered in the international conversion tables," said Mr Smith. “The records apply to the agegroup championships only and they are really best times rather than records,” said Mr McPhee. He did not consider it hard on a swimmer who had set a best time in a long-course pool'to have it beaten by someone having the advantage of swimming in a short-course pool. The swimmers who have set records in long-course pools would probably not agree. The incentive for.swimmers to attempt records will be lost if, from time to time, conditions governing them are going to be changed at the whim of administrators.

The real quandary for the N.Z.A.S.A. will come when it has to discuss the matter at council level. .Next year it will have some' records that are shortcourse times, and some that are long-course times. It would be ludicrous, to leave the times as

they stand. They will have to be ? converted to either long-course or short-course equivalents. If . the former course is taken, •41 which seems the logical one, ' ?. Brown’s time will be converted >.* back to 2min 18.35, a time slower., than Taumaunu’s record. uit}