What does strike me as strange is that before this announcement USA Swimming had three crucial roles they were hiring for. One is the CEO, with Tim Hinchey’s long awaited sacking. Then there is the National Team Director who will oversee that entirety of the “wet” side of the operation. Finally there is the National Junior Team coach.
Earlier this week I posted a podcast with three-time US Olympic coach Greg Meehan. It’s worth listening to. There’s two things I want to comment with regards to the podcast.
One of the many advantages of working for yourself is that you can change directions fast. Last spring, I reached a point where it was time to make a change. One of the reasons that I work for myself is because it allows me the latitude to spend time engaging more with people in all corners of the swimming world.
The BS Vendor is a person who tries to profit off of selling you pure, unadulterated cow manure. They are often IYI’s, putting a veneer of “science” around an empty shell. They don’t understand how probability works, which you don’t need to understand complex math to figure out. They seek rent (money) for their BS.
I have a few criticisms of the ISL, but I don’t want to focus on them in this space. Instead, I want to borrow some inspiration from a wiser, older person who doesn’t want their name mentioned in this space. If I have one hope for the ISL, beyond what it may mean to elite swimming at face value, it’s this:
Far too late, I’ve realized that I’m sad that Roush has left the post. I’ve been one of ASCA’s biggest critics- mainly because of Leonard, who long since leveraged the American coaching community for personal gain. Still, ASCA continues to play an important role for not only coaches in America but coaches around the world
Part of the reason came down to simple arrogance. I felt like I had heard and read enough about Gibney that there would be little to gain from listening to a re-telling of the “same story”. The other part was a bit of fear. I knew it would be heavy listening, and I was worried about what it might stir up in me emotionally to listen,
I think that USA Swimming will cease to exist within the near future. The reasons why can be found by pouring over any number of things I’ve written over the past decade plus. But, in case you don’t want to pour over my poorly organized collection of writing, here’s a brief summary of why I think this:
People who know me know that long before our current crisis I was firmly against training trips, or training camps, or getting on an airplane to go another place to swim. However, if anybody is looking for an easy budgetary cut for the upcoming season, provided you typically budgeted for such a trip, my advice is to CUT CUT CUT.
Like any virtue, though, loyalty can go wrong. People can be loyal to bad actors, an all too frequent occurrence in sport. But for today I’m not going to focus on that direction. I’m going to focus on the opposite. The fact of the matter, a true sign of a weak leader is that they value loyalty above all else.
A few listeners have written inquiring about the status of the Swim Brief, my erstwhile podcast. The last one was recorded just before everything went to hell and then released in March. So to the loyal listeners/readers, I will explain that and a few other ongoing announcements about Chris DeSantis Coaching.
College swimming, especially Men’s college swimming, was already in a precarious position. In many athletic departments, even Division 1 programs, teams were understaffed, coaches were underpaid and scholarships were underfunded. Many athletic directors judged their swimming and diving programs with absolutely no skin in the game.
I’m not here to place blame on USA Swimming. I was, on a personal level, at least as unprepared for the ground shifting out from under me within the last two months. I built a business mainly around me FLYING ON AN airplane to places and working in close proximity. My last trip was to Norway and Denmark, something I can’t even imagine when it will be ok to do again.
