The nine world records bettered during the tour
indicate the excitement that these competitions are now generating. No wonder
Australia, Brazil, and Canada are planning to host future competitions in
an expansion of the series. The added media exposure can only be good for
swimming.
The second and final portion of the interview with
Dave Johnson by Cecil Colwin leads off this issue.
With most of the major international competitions
(World Championships, Commonwealth Games, Olympics) in the Far East during
the next three years, careful budgeting will be an added challenge for Dave
and SNC.
For those not old enough to know, Cecil Colwin
had the position as Dave Johnson, with the Canadian Amateur Swimming Association
(CASA) as SNC was known until the 1980s. Colwin was appointed National Technical
Director in 1972, following the Munich Olympics, and stayed in the post
until 1977. He originated many innovative ideas including TAG, which has
been an integral part of this magazine since our first issue in 1974. He
wrote the first Coaching Certification Manuals for Swimming Coaches for
the various levels.
Paul Quinlan interviewed Deryk Snelling in Australia,
and he explains what his job in the U.K. is all about.
Dr. Ralph Richards, Coaching and Development Co-ordinator
for Australian Swimming, was interviewed by Cecil Colwin and he talks on
how winning coaches and swimmers are produced down under, as well as some
observation, on Kieren Perkins' long-term preparation as the underlying
reasons for his success.
We are experiencing long delays in receiving major
competition results in Canada. Many request for the Junior National results
on our web site have remained unmet as we have not received these. It sometimes
takes five to six weeks for bigger results to arrive. We can't rank them
if we don't have them!
For major national level meets, if meet hosts fax
the finals for senior events each day, we will put them online.
Edmonton has received approval from SNC to make a bid to FINA to host the 1999 World Short Course Championships. They will be in competition with Hong Kong. We wish them success.