Set up in 2012 to help ease the pressure on water space allocation in the city caused by perceived coaching competition, the programme includes nearly 200 of Otago’s top swimmers. Those swimmers have access to high level training from coach Gennadiy Labara, assistant coach Simon Cook and several other part-time coaches.
Board chairman Lindsay Dey was happy with how the board was operating. Swimmers from the region were achieving well, as seen recently through the performances of Caitlin Deans and Andrew Trembath, two of the best youngsters on a national level. Trembath, though, spends most of his time training in Auckland.
One of the biggest issues faced by the board — and one which was not unique to swimming — was getting youngsters to continue with the sport and boost numbers in the programme.
"Overall, our numbers within the squad are just below the 200 level and that’s been pretty consistent throughout the whole time we’ve been in operation," Dey said.
"We’d like a few more. We’re going to see if we can entice a few young people to come to town to continue their swimming careers, rather than stopping when they leave school. So we’re keen to grow that."
The board was working on encouraging swimmers to base themselves in Dunedin, rather than moving to Auckland. An exchange programme with swimmers in Shanghai was in the works, while a new programme from Swim New Zealand would help develop clearer pathways in the sport. That would help Dunedin’s swimmers, alongside acting as a carrot for swimmers outside the region to come to school in Dunedin, so they could train in the programme.
A report from swim coach Mark Bone had analysed the programme. His key recommendations were the need to communicate better within the sport and to cater to different ages. Dey said both had improved since the report was carried out.
Part of that communication was with the local clubs, which remained the foundation of the sport and operated alongside the programme. The programme was seen as the next step on the pathway for swimmers to follow and worked to help the clubs. That been beneficial, particularly to the smaller clubs. Both Zenith and Taieri had experienced growth since then.
"The more we have interface with the clubs the better.
"You’ve got to have clubs because they [swimmers] compete as individuals for their clubs now and that’s the structure they have. So it’s very important that we develop strong relationships and have strong clubs."
The biggest drawback remained that there was effectively only one top-level head coach in the city. While Labara’s record is impressive, the reality is coaching is something in which one size does not fit all and some coaches will not click with their athletes. The board had looked at addressing the issue, although there remained the problem of water space, the original reason for starting the programme.
The board had advertised for two new members to join its ranks and is going through the appointment process.
