Alex Baumann, the medley great of the 1980s, has quit a top job in Canadian sport to take up a role as CEO for High Performance Sport New Zealand, where the sport of swimming is in turmoil this past week.

One of the all-time greatest Canadian Olympians, Baumann, in response to a flood of thank you notes and good wishes, tells the Toronto Sun through laughter: In a sense, it’s been very nice. No one is saying, ‘Thank God we got rid of that axxxxxx,"

Canada won't be laughing. Baumann, double Olympic medley champion in world-record time back in 1984, has proved a big asset in his role at the helm of Olympic sport. The newspaper described him as "the antithesis of a generation of brain-washed Canadian amateur athletes whose goal at Olympics and world championships was to have fun and be a good sport ... Baumann never was afraid to say that his goal was to win, period. He didn’t go to Los Angeles to shake hands and trade pins. And thankfully, he brought that mentality back." 

He returned to Canada from Australia in 2006 for the job of executive director of the Canadian Olympic Committee’s Road to Excellence program. Reporter Steve Buffery wrote: "Since taking over, Baumann has done a superb job helping to turn around Canada’s fortunes in international sport. He is a leader, a motivator and, unlike many of his ilk in Canadian amateur sport, isn’t afraid to speak his mind, even when it goes against the collective 'wisdom' of Canada’s politically correct elite."

Only last week, the same reporter wrote a critical report on the way funding is handled in Canada. Typical of Baumann, he wrote a supportive mail that read: "We need a targeted and prioritized approach (one that OTP follows). Unfortunately Sport Canada is egalitarian. I have always said that there is no egalitarianism in high performance sport. Until we get a fully integrated and co-ordinated sport system that is focussed and targeted we will never be as good as we can be."

Baumann will now take his message to New Zealand, where the family will be nearer to wife Tracy's family in Australia, while Baumann's son Ashton may soon take up a place at university in Australia. He and sister Tabitha are swimmers and will continue to represent Canada if selected. Ashton will race at the Pan Am Games in Mexico next month.

"There is a reason that I have a Maple Leaf tattooed over my heart," Baumann said in a statement. "I love Canada! But, at this time, I have to do what I believe to be the best for my family."