Zac Reid, Gary Hollywood (coach) and Lewis Clareburt during a New Zealand Swimming Olympic press conference at the Main Press Centre of Tokyo 2020. Photo / Photosport.co.nz
The coach of Olympic swimmer Lewis Clareburt is issuing an ultimatum to the Wellington City Council over access to its aquatic facilities, following a disruptive build-up to this year's Tokyo Games.
And if an agreement over pool access isn't reached, Clareburt and coach Gary Hollywood appear prepared to leave behind family and friends in the capital and be based elsewhere for the short three-year cycle leading up to Paris 2024.
Twenty-two-year-old Clareburt headlined the seven-member New Zealand swim team at Tokyo, finishing seventh in his preferred 400-metre individual medley event. This followed the Wellingtonian smashing his own national record in the heats in his maiden Olympic swim.
Clareburt's first Olympic appearance came on the back of a surprise third placing at the world championships in South Korea in 2019, and a bronze medal at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.
However, a lack of pools in Wellington leading up to Tokyo caused major disruption to his Olympic preparations, which Hollywood says cannot happen again if Clareburt's to be a genuine medal contender in Paris.
Clareburt – part of the Capital Swim Club – was forced to train in public lanes as the Wellington City Council struggled to accommodate all those wanting to use its facilities. His camp received an email in May advising them that several sessions at the city's only 50-metre pool were being cancelled due to high demand.
"We basically need better access to 50-metre pool time, and we need that to be uninterrupted," Hollywood said.
"Luckily most of the time we found an alternative solution, but it was something that we could well have done without.
"We now need that security to know that we've got lane access, and that it's going to be largely uninterrupted so that we can just focus on important things like training and coaching, and not worrying about where we'll train each week."
And, for Clareburt and Hollywood, the situation is triggering a re-think about whether they can stay based in their hometown.
"Our aspiration is to stay in Wellington, but things need to change," Hollywood said.
"We're going to need a lot more support to convince us that Wellington's the best place still for us.
"There's probably an expectation that come Paris we deliver a medal, so with expectation comes responsibility, and it's not just our responsibility – it's the nation's responsibility, it's Wellington's responsibility, to make sure that we're given every support so that when we go to Paris, there's no excuses and no feeling of 'If Only'."
Hollywood said shifting base would be disruptive to the pair's personal lives, but it's a sacrifice they're prepared to make.
"My wife and my child would not want to move – I'm very settled [in Wellington], Lewis has got all his family here, but we're all in agreement that the most important thing is whatever's going to help the campaign".
Clareburt says it's not an issue specific just to Wellington, and finding the right pool space affects swimmers across New Zealand.
"You can't blame the facilities because there's just not enough of them and they're trying to do their best to fit everyone in … we obviously want to be the best in the world and trying to do that in a facility in Wellington, or New Zealand, is actually quite difficult." Clareburt told Newstalk ZB this week.
The outcome of discussions with the Wellington City Council looks set to be dictated by Swimming New Zealand's allocation of taxpayer funding from High Performance Sport NZ, when its funding decisions for Paris 2024 campaigns are decided this November.
"If [Swimming NZ] come to me and say 'Gary, we've got an extra $50,000 for you per year for pool hire', then I need to be able to go to the council and say 'we've got some extra money here', and ask what deal they can do for us – how can they support us to enable us to bring home a medal," Hollywood said.
Of particular issue is the Wellington region's lack of Olympic-sized 50-metre swimming pools, after the closure of Hutt City's Naenae Pool in 2019 due to seismic concerns. It left the Wellington Regional Aquatic Centre (WRAC) in Kilbirnie as the area's only 50-metre pool.
Clareburt mostly trains at the 33-metre long Freyberg Pool on Wellington's waterfront, but Hollywood says the key problem is having to compete with the public to book lanes at the WRAC.
"We're competing against people that regularly train in a 50 metre pool, which is our race distance. It's like a 400-metre runner training on a 400-metre track. We're a 400-metre runner, but we're training on a 200-metre track and that doesn't put us on equal footing with the rest of the world" Hollywood said.
Wellington City Council's Recreation Facilities Manager, Mathew Bialy, was unavailable for an interview, but in a statement to NZME said the council has been working with Swimming New Zealand's High Performance team on how they can support Clareburt to meet his training needs in Wellington.
"Unlike Auckland's AUT Millennium Institute, Wellington does not have a dedicated high performance aquatic facility. This means we are always balancing the demands for pool water space across a range of user groups," Bialy said.
"This includes all aquatic sports, learn to swim and access for the general public.
"Before the Tokyo Olympics we were in discussions with Swimming New Zealand on how we best continue to support high performance swimming athletes who wish to train and live in Wellington, as [they] build towards the World Championships and Commonwealth Games".
However, Bialy's statement did not provide an update on where these discussions were at.
Hollywood – who coaches several young Wellington swimmers – acknowledged that Bialy and the council had been very supportive.
"But, I'm going to have to ask for more, and to see what they can do in partnership with Swimming New Zealand.
"There's a number of 50 metre pools popping up around New Zealand now, so a number of areas would be really happy to host myself and Lewis, and get the benefits of the learnings that come from that," Hollywood said.
"There's the 50 metre pool in Christchurch being built, there's one in Hawke's Bay, there's good facilities in Auckland. We're going to have to be quite mercenary in terms of where we go, and what we do.
Clareburt appears optimistic a resolution can be reached to remain in Wellington.
"I've had opportunities to move overseas or move elsewhere a lot, and I haven't really wanted to take them because generally my coach relationship and my wider performance team have been so good, that it probably outweighs the positives of moving elsewhere and getting better facilities.
"I think we can work together with facilities management and figure out ways that we can get some better pool space, and make sure that by the next Olympics we can produce medals or continually get better and compete on the world stage." Clareburt said.
Hollywood says they're even starting to think outside the box to try and solve Wellington's lack of dedicated high performance swimming facilities.
"We are talking with Victoria University [where Clareburt is studying] – could they build a pool? Maybe Scots College [Clareburt's former high school] would like to build a 50 metre pool, but how do we resource that?
"Obviously I've got ideas but there's a time scale associated with that, so even if the greater Wellington region has a long term plan, and the council can provide us with a short term solution until something more concrete comes online, then that at least helps us.
Hollywood ultimately wants the buzz around Clareburt's success to have a positive impact on the young swimmers around him in Wellington, and beyond.
"To think long-term, Lewis is inspiring a lot of other young swimmers who think that they can do what he's doing, and what he's done," Hollywood said.
"How do we prepare the pathway – now that we've started something, how do we build upon it and how do we extend it beyond Lewis' career".
A three-week inquest in Hamilton is investigating the Olympian's death in 2021 aged 24.