Swimming: Three on verge of leaving top team

Hayley Palmer. Photo / Getty Images

Three more top New Zealand swimmers are considering leaving the national high performance squad - just as Sparc are arranging a review of the sport and the $1.65 million it gets from the taxpayer.

The swimmers cannot be named as they fear negative treatment if they speak out. One is considering moving overseas, the other two possibly leaving Auckland. Their wish for anonymity is an illustration of the "culture of fear" referred to in previous Herald on Sunday reports of dissatisfaction with the high performance programme, despite securing four silver and two bronze medals at the Delhi Commonwealth games last year.

Swimming New Zealand is to receive $1.65 million from the taxpayer this year, if it can prove it is functioning effectively at the top level. It will receive its funding for six months (up until July) during the review.

Sparc is to engage an independent arbiter to see how the SNZ system operates and what it delivers - and is not just focusing on the concerns of the athletes. The arbiter will deliver a report by April 30. SNZ will be briefed on findings likely to be released by mid-May.

Until the terms of reference are confirmed there is no guarantee athletes will be consulted. Few have spoken out publicly to this point - recently retired Moss Burmester an exception - but a number have talked off the record.

Some swimmers claimed if they said anything out of turn they risked being squeezed out. "You feel that if you put your head above the parapet you might win a small battle but you'd lose the war and never get picked again or be ostracised," one said.

The sport's code of conduct contains muzzling commands, one of which is "not to speak to any media in a negative way regarding Swimming NZ Inc". It might be difficult for athletes and others to decide what to do if the arbiter calls, given the findings will be made public.

Heath Mills, representing a number of elite swimmers as part of the New Zealand Federation of Athletes, says they will be lobbying for athlete involvement so they can feel more involved in their sport.

"Given the actual swimmers are the epicentre of the high performance programme we expect them to at least be given a mandate to have their say."

Mills is still working with former Olympic swimmer Helen Norfolk to help athletes feel more comfortable about approaching SNZ (via the general manager of performance and pathways Jan Cameron) so they can meet monthly as a collective to get athletes a voice. Swimmers want a voice comparable to the likes of rugby players, cricketers and netballers, so they are treated like adults rather than being force fed a 'do this, do that, like it or lump it' approach.

The three considering leaving the high performance squad on the North Shore follow questions over SNZ's handling of its top talent in the wake of the Daniel Bell zero-tolerance of alcohol breach at the Games.

The most recent swimmer to depart, on what she described as "good terms", was sprint freestyler Hayley Palmer. Sparc are still trying to divert SNZ funds to Palmer at her new base in Florida under esteemed former American Olympic coach Randy Reese. Palmer is working with him until the world championships at Shanghai in July.

Sparc general manager high performance Marty Toomey says her case is an exception: "From a system perspective, New Zealand has about 65 athletes in the top 16 of Olympic sports. If they all asked for separate programmes overseas, the costs would be prohibitive. The environment has to be performance-enhancing; the coaching needs to be of a standard that will potentially propel the athlete forward. It's not just about them doing an OE."

Palmer had the 15th fastest time in the women's 50m freestyle last year - 0.38s outside the top three - and won bronze medals in that event and the 4x100m freestyle relay at the Commonwealth Games.

"Sometimes we have to do what is best for New Zealand high performance sport not just look after the national sports organisation," Toomey says. "If people in the top 16 in the world don't feel they can get support to get to the elite international level within New Zealand, we have to look at other means to get that athlete to the top."