The Australian swimming coaches association has hit back at allegations that "questionable coach selection policies", in which appointments were made on the "vagaries of one person", have prevailed Down Under. What amounts to a charge of cronyism, at best favouritism, appears to be bogus and falls on consideration of the very policies of Swimming Australia Ltd itself.
At a highly sensitive time in the sport, in the wake of Alan Thompson stepping down in a disagreement with Swimming Australia Ltd over the splitting of the roles of head coach and performance manager, a Sydney newspaper reported that swimming was suffering as a result of "questionable coaching selection policies".
The report went on to say: "The swimmers may have to finish first, second or third to make a representative team but the coaches do not," and in the future: "Coaches will be appointed based on the success of their swimmers and not on the vagaries of one person".
But in a statement from ASCTA, Ross Gage, CEO of the coaches organisation, said: "Nothing could be further from the truth. The Coach Selection Policy is determined by the Swimming Australia Ltd (SAL) Board, after input from ASCTA and SAL's High Performance Unit.
"The ASCTA Board proposes the Team Coaches, based on the SAL policy, to the SAL Board for ratification. Coach selection is not the domain of any one individual.
"Team Coaches are selected purely based on the results of their swimmers at the Trials. Coaches of the highest ranked swimmers get selected. Nothing can be more transparent and merit-based.
"Such principles and processes for Coach Selection have been in place since 1992. They are widely touted as one of the significant reasons for the development in high performance swimming in Australia since that time.
"ASCTA strongly stand by the continuation of this Coach Selection Policy."
