A Lifetime of Olympic Swimming Lessons

Bill Sweetenham – Olympic Legend

From a rough beginning in Central Queensland, he has blazed a trail across the swimming world, attending 11 Olympic games, 5 of them as head coach for 3 different nations, and has coached swimmers to success at 9 World Championships and 8 Commonwealth Games including 9 world records.

As you can imagine, this is not a simple story but it’s one that needs to be told and will be in his upcoming book but for now, we showcase a true Olympic Coaching Legend, the irreverent and irreplaceable, Bill Sweetenham AM.

The Early Years

I grew up in Mount Morgan and was there until I was 12 years old, pulling the single hairs from the head of young Sandra May who sat next to me. We then moved to Mount Isa where I lived until I was 25.

At the age of 16, I came home drunk and my dad gave me a hiding. The next day, as he left for work, I hit him in the head with a fence paling giving him 22 stitches across the head. The next day he told me that we still had a score to settle, so we fought again, with him the victor. I told him I wanted to leave home and he said I was allowed under to three conditions. 1. I was never to return, 2, If I ever did want to return, there would be a penalty, and 3, I had to come to dinner every Sunday so that my mum wouldn’t worry.

I left that night but as I was leaving with my packed bags, he told me that the things I had packed were his but, as I was his son, he would let me leave with my underpants and $20. My mates were killing themselves laughing as I climbed into their car in my underpants.

For the next 12 months I lived in a mate’s garage, which in Mt Isa, was pretty bad. After a year, I wanted to come back home, but Dad said the penalty still applied. The penalty was to teach a thalidomide kid to swim 50 metres in two different strokes. This was the requirement to join the swimming club and if I succeeded, then I could move back home. Luckily, the kid was open to bribes but I found my passion and by the end of the 1974 summer, I was teaching 40-50 kids to swim.

Coaching the Passion

One of the Mount Isa Accounting families, Jim Rafter helped me raise money to build a 25 metre pool at the catholic school at 58 Buckley Avenue. We had no idea how to build a pool, but using MIM (we called it Made in Mexico) equipment and materials, we constructed a pool that would withstand an atomic blast. This was Mt Isa’s second pool and was a dedicated teaching pool.

In one of my early group of boys at the new pool, I asked who could swim. A young boy called Anthony Bryne put up his hand and we went to the deep end to show the other kids how it was done. After I pulled him out, he explained that he could swim, but just not yet. How’s that for an incredible attitude?

In 1974, Lawrie retired and I came down to Carina to coach Steven Holland. A few swimmers followed me including Anthony Byrne who became Stephens training partner.

Success

1976 Olympics – [???]

In 1980 I was nominated as the AIS first director of coaching. I was also the head Coach for the Australian Swim Team for the Moscow Olympics. That same year I was awarded the Churchill Scholarship to study in the US.

1981 – Assistant for 2 years

In 1983, as Head Women’s Coach on tour with the Australian team in West Germany was involved in a car accident on a Autobahn that ruined my left leg. I was in hospital for 17 weeks in a great West German hospital. When the accident happened, dirt plugged the wound and stopped me from bleeding to death, but the chemicals in the dirt gave me a nasty bone infection and is has never come good. As a result, I spent two and a half years on crutches and my left leg is an inch and a half shorter than my right leg.

It certainly slowed me down but didn’t stop me. I was still on deck every day in 1984, with Ken Wood as my assistant coach.

1991 – Head coach for 8 years

Paul Brettell – Head of Volleyball Australia

Recruited to Hong Kong for National Team and IS

Don asked me to run the Youth program in the lead up to the Sydney Olympics. responsible for the best ever national youth programme result in the Olympic arena with 12 swimmers making the Australian Olympic Team in the Sydney 2000 Olympics with a record medal haul for any youth programme in the world, which still stands unchallenged today. This was supported by the world’s best international coach development programme with the Select Coaches Group.

Time to Travel

After Sydney Olympics in 2000, I was unanimously nominated as Head Coach for Australia but also offered the role for Britain. Wanting a change and challenge, took the role with Britain

From 2000 until 2008 I lived in Britain as National Performance Director and Head Coach in Loftborough,[check location] a physical Education University. They were hard years, trying to change the culture and thinking of the UK team. The culture was so ingrained that I remember asking “Did you bring me to the UK to change me or you?”

In 2000, the had only received 2 medals but with work, managed to come third overall in the Beijing Olympics. [Check actual stats]

Another Change

2012/2013 – recruited into Spain – 2nd in world short course [check]. Recreuited Fred Venoo from France to assist and still keep in touch with Fred today.

Recruited into Argentina – Bronze at 2015 World Championships

Recently spent 6 months in New Zealand working with Laurner Boyle. Last Year Silver and Bronze.

Denis on Gold Coast[?]

Every Olympics – or Head Coach since 1976. That’s 11 Olympics with a medal at every one and none of it would have been possible without the support of my family and, in particular, my wife Cheryl. Two years ago I was

But it’s not just swimming, I was nominated mentor for Lisa Alexander who has become the Head Coach of the Netball Diamonds. I have also coached the New Zealand cycling team.

More than Coaching

Business partners with Phil King, husband and Coach of Debbie Flintoff-King

Rio will be the last Olympics. After [11 Olympic games]. You know, I've coached a medal winner at every Olympics since 1976. And it wouldn’t have been possible without the support of my family and especially my wife Cheryl.

• 1976 - Montreal
• 1980 - Moscow Olympics
• 1984 – Los Angeles
• 1988 – Seoul
• 1992 – Barcelona
• 1996 – Atlanta
• 2000 – Sydney
• 2004 – Athens
• 2008 – Beijing
• 2012 – London
• 2016 – Rio

Under Bill's management as National Performance Director of British Swimming, Britain's swimmers won 18 World Championship titles, broke more than 200 domestic records and produced their best ever Commonwealth Games, World Championships and Olympic Games results.

Bill is internationally recognised for his strategic planning capabilities in high performance sport.

Going to Britain, I recruited other Aussies to the team. Some in Australia were not happy about me ‘stealing’ talent but I can tell you that people don’t leave if they are happy.

At the 2006 commonwealth games in Melbourne, Britain came within 1 medal of beating Australia with the UK papers proclaiming “Empire Strikes Back” but one of the swimmers had to go back to the US. [SIMON]

Do things that others are not prepared to do. I have the answers and they are not that important.

Bill was made a Member of the Order of Australia in January 1989. He was also awarded a Churchill Fellowship in 1980 to study swim coaching in the USA.

A friend was studying marine engineering at Queensland University, who said come for one day to see what it is like. No-one checks the class list. So I went and loved it. I attended lectures on biology, physiology and psychology for over 3 years. One professor said, “We realised that you had come to learn rather than to pass”

I sought information from everyone and from every field.

Now knowledge is less of an advantage. 98% of trainers are focused on what happens from the neck down. In my experience, many coaches can train but cannot coach. If you cannot inspire, then you cannot coach. “Makes you a better artist. How can you tell something you don’t know, so you must listen.”

Lived on a racecourse at Sharks Inn in Hong Kong and I watched how they trained their horses. Bart Cummings told me that you have to read the horse. Just like coaching an athlete, you have to know the heart and mind of who or what you are coaching.

I still search for new knowledge: US John Modiner – “Brain rules for baby”

2016 – Do it on the coach

Every Olympics are different for the winning edge. Athletes cannot rely on the last year’s results to be repeated. The growth of your learning has to keep you ahead of the field. Winning without improvement is just lucky and luck runs out and has never been good to me. Success comes from sustainable and repeatable effort.

Rio – Couple of athletes from Argentina, Fred & Spain, Welsh swimmers, Sophie Pascoe – New Zealand, Working outside the system. Working with coaches who are ex-swimmers is part of my enjoyment. In 2011, Lisa Alexander was applying to replace the previous head coach. She was given three names for possible mentors and chose me. My first job was to get her the job as head coach. (sports commission)

If, as a coach, you decide to work outside of Australia, you will never be welcomed back. I attended a coaching conference in Broadbeach and was shunned.

I sold my interest in Kings Swim School and decided to retire. I went with my wife to the movies for the first time in my memory to see “Atonement”. Half-way through I was bored and left to get a coffee. I sat, drinking the overpriced coffee and wondered what I would do with my retirement. Across the road was a travel agent and I asked them to google the top 10 fastest roller-coasters an to book me a ticket for 5 days in each location. To make the trip tax-deductable, I met with leaders in those 10 locations that I most wanted to study and none were swimming coaches.

There are three things that most coaches are lacking.

1. Specialist Accountant
2. Business Management

I find coaches close mind to talent before the talent opens its mind to coaching.

The absence of normal – everything is abnormal.