Aussie Olympic Boss Knifes ASC & Brands Bertrand ‘More Figurine Than Redeemer’

The fallout has begun Down Under. John Coates, head of the Australian Olympic Committee boss, has effectively divorced himself from the Australian Sports Commission in the wake of disappointing results at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

Coates dealt the first blow when he withdrew cooperation with can ASC-led review of the Games, saying that a policy of installing top businessmen, such as John Bertrand in swimming, as the heads of Olympic sports had failed, as had the “Winning Edge” system of funding.

Coates recalls a “golden era” for swimming when John Devitt, the 1960 Olympic 100m freestyle champion, was at the helm. The IOC member then drives the knife into current management when he says:

 “I also recall John Wylie (ASC chairman) said early in the Rio Games that if swimming produced the expected results, after one gold medal at the London Olympics, a statue should be erected and called Bertrand the Redeemer. A figurine might be more appropriate.”

Even that would be too much, critics suggest, given that the likes of Bertrand will have contributed nothing to the actual performances in Rio, neither where they were good nor poor.

Swimming’s specific issues are also the subject of a great debate, with coach Bill Sweetenham setting out the Olympic protocols that he believes have been abandoned, including his view that:

“The coach must be the best psychologist. The coach must be exposed to the psychology of the athlete and must fully understand the heart and mind of each athlete. This should be a continual and well rehearsed practice throughout the athlete’s career from age group upwards. There is always a need for psychology, especially when all other factors are equal but it must be done before the event and not during the event. Once again, psychology must be a lifestyle focused improvement, not a last minute band-aid approach.”

A think tank was established by  Wylie three months before the Rio Olympics. It was designed to strengthen the position of the Australian Institute of Sport in the wake of accusations that ‘Winning Edge’ had simply weakened the Canberra-based institute by diverting funds to particular sports.

Reports of a tumbleweed feel to the AIS, with what one report described as “a few stragglers in the canteen, facilities under-used and the place half dead”, have been around for the past few years. Now Coates tells the Australian media:

“I have withdrawn from an ASC-initiated review of the AIS. It is up to the board of the ASC to determine the future of Winning Edge. I will concentrate on the activities of the AOC. The corporate model of having leaders of Olympic sports who are connected to the top end of town, such as Swimming Australia’s John Bertrand and Cycling Australia’s Malcolm Speed, has failed.”

“It is OK to have these business-oriented men on the board of Olympic sports, but not as president,” argues Coates, the issues focussed on leadership rather than the underperformance of athletes who have stacked up time and time again but come the big one fell well short of the excellence they have proved themselves capable of.

The golden era of swimming had coincided with the presidency of former gold medallist John Devitt, said Coates, adding: “I’m sure the Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, and the federal sports minister, Sussan Ley, will be concerned about the results in Rio, as well as the shadow minister for sport taking an interest.

The AOC and ASC have not been best friends of late, the politics of a Sydney-Melbourne split at play. The Sydney-based Coates has been opposed to Melbourne’s Wylie “drafting Victorian businessmen as heads of Olympic sports”, as a report in The Age put it. “I note that [Melbourne-based] Qantas chairman Leigh Clifford will soon become chair of Equestrian Australia,” says Coates.

Review pending but the issues and debate is well beyond the scope of most businessmen. It is sports specific.

Coach leader Bill Sweetenham said: “The current Australian Olympic swim team ignored, broke or did not understand (or a combination of all 3), the tried and proven protocols of Olympic engagement.”

At one with water but not in Rio – photo by Patrick B. Kraemer

In a round robin to Australian coaches urging them to break free of the current system and “go it alone”, he sets out some of the “winning protocols” that Australia should return to:

The Olympics are about having a well rehearsed and well practised delivery of an unemotional and flawless performance. It is not about an extraordinary or exceptional performance. It is about a normal, well rehearsed performance in an extraordinary and exceptional environment. The Olympics are best kept to their simplest form in taking a group of extremely talented swimmers, coaches and sports medicine people to achieve personal best times in a process of winning. It is not wise to rely on a shared team doctor who is not at all familiar with the athletes and staff. The Olympics are about conversions, ie. converting 17th ranking or slower into a 16th ranking or better (therefore making it to semi-finals), and then making 9th place or slower into an 8th place or better, or a 4th place or slower into a 3rd place or better, or a 2nd place or slower into a gold medal …

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