American Bud McAllister confirmed as head coach of Swansea training centre in Wales
Britain's roster of head coaches at the five Intensive Training Centres being established in readiness for London 2012 and beyond is complete: the last man in is Bud McAllister, mentor to the legendary Janet Evans. The 51-year-old was already based in Swansea.
Evans lost the last of her world records from the 1980s when Rebecca Adlington, of Britain and coached by Bill Furniss in Nottingham, shattered the 800m freestyle standard to win the Olympic crown in Beijing.
McAllister, one of two overseas coaches to head a centre along with Doug Frost of Australia, was appointed to the British programme by Bill Sweetenham, the Australian who was Britain's performance director until late last year. It was Sweetenham who suggested the centres, though he had called for up to eight.
McAllister, who has twice been named American Swim Coaches Association Coach of the Year, said: "I've always been a big supporter of training centres and the ITCs will compliment the very good club system we have in Britain. These centres will make the system even stronger so we can develop even more talented swimmers by providing them with everything they need in a world-leading daily training environment. "I'm very excited about this opportunity. We receive great support from British Swimming and Swim Wales and this will enable the ITC to establish a strong reputation. People are noticing the good work that's taking place in Swansea and the ITC will enhance this." Michael Scott has made the implementation of ITCs a priority since he took off as director where Sweetenham left off last year.
British Swimming's new Head Coach, American Dennis Pursley said: "Bud is obviously best known in the swimming world for having coached US swimmer Janet Evans to one of the most spectacular performances in Olympic history in 1988. What impresses me most about Bud is in looking at the results he's achieved in Swansea. Maybe not instantly recognisable to the public as they're not podium swimmers at this point, if you actually look at the rate and degree of improvement achieved in Swansea it's clear to see and impressive. As this continues it's just a matter of time until those swimmers are at the highest level. "He's very well respected in the coaching community for his track record and results in middle and distance swimming and the work Bud's doing in Swansea reflects that."
The five centres are at the University of Bath (Dave McNulty), Loughborough University (Ben Titley), Stirling (Frost) and Stockport (Sean Kelly), as well as Swansea. Titley, Kelly and McAllister were already based at the centres they will now lead and all had enjoyed success at various levels and events. The balance of Brits and overseas coaches is line with what had been suggested by British Swimming at a time of speculation about the relatively large sums of money that Britain was prepared to pay for key coaching positions in the build-up to a home Olympic Games.
