Is it time to stop coaches from pushing swimmers too hard?

I remember having a coach who screamed at us to swim faster in training. When we were about to finish a set of, say, 10 x 100m, he’d get us to try extra hard on the last one. When we’d finished, and lay exhausted, hanging on to the lane ropes, he would then announce that we were going to do one more, but faster than we’d previously swum. If this induced vomiting he would be happy.

The same coach would shout across the pool, naming a swimmer, who wasn’t kicking hard enough during a kick set.

The ASA now views such actions as extreme examples of bullying and intimidation, after several complaints have been made to the ASA. The level of tolerance for bullying is often higher in swimming compared to other activities.  

Of course, the image of a coach in the swimmer-coach relationship is typically that of an all
powerful, all knowledgeable ‘expert’ who is able to use their specialised skills to enable
the  athlete  to  succeed. The swimming coach can be compared to a priest whose expertise is never challenged, arguing that their position as a higher authority is sustained and reinforced by developing and maintaining successful swimmers. As such, the swimmer often finds themselves in awe of their coach and often puts themselves in a vulnerable position by giving their all to the relationship in order to unlock their potential.

This influence often transcends to a swimmer’s life outside of sport and can affect their sleeping patterns, diet, weight and interpersonal relationships. While the coach is able to exert their unquestionable influence over the swimmer the ‘win at all costs’ ideal can lead to incidents of coaches bullying swimmers.

In believing that the ends justify the means, coaches feel they can do whatever it takes to make the swimmer’s physical or emotional pain acceptable.

There’s a difference between forceful, aggressive and encouraging behaviour and that of bullying behaviour. But it’s a fine line that coaches need to tread carefully.

The ASA is now spending much time on complaints of ‘singling out’ a swimmer, unnecessary physical training, going against the will of the swimmer and the coach intimidating the swimmer.

Before too long we can expect to see guidelines coming from the ASA instructing coaches to give age-group swimmers a minimum rest of maybe even several minutes between every swim in order to allow the youngster to be fully refreshed before starting their next swim. Youngsters will be able to swim at a pace of their choosing without being shouted at. If you think this could never happen, don’t be foolish enough to bet against it!

I prefer the carrot to the stick.

Carrot every time!

I remember my time with Mike Higgs at Southend. In modern terms it might be categorised as bullying but I, and every other swimmer who trained with him, never saw it that way. We used to do sets that verge on the impossible to the outsider but were seen, quite rightly, as a challenge. Examples include 10x100 on 65 and 20x400m on 5.30 with every 4th being IM. We even had a 2000m fly warm up (in a t-shirt) because a certain M Foster questioned the coach's decision to make us do a 1000m fly warm up. Given that I took 30s off my 400m free time in 6 months, I still feel that the ends justified the means.

parents should be protecting their children. It's not acceptable. Stand up for your swimmers. Too much focus on parents wanting winners and not wanting to annoy coach, at the expense of childs mental health and well being.