Swimming in Ireland

sexyh20baby

Sports competitions reward those who have excelled in their chosen sport beyond all others and have reached far beyond their goals to achieve everything they have aimed for and more. Well, in theory anyway. In practise I have come to learn that it is an entirely different matter. Not that I can speak for all sports all over the globe, but here in Ireland swimming is less about greatness than it is about kissing ass and doing as you're told. Anyone who does not brown their nose beyond all sanity or dares to have an opinion that differs can go rot in a hole somewhere for all those who have taken control care. They care less about making their country proud and more about having their own egos stroked. Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country does not draw breath anywhere near their doors.
I have seen coaches from other countries take an interest in all of their swimmers and train swimmers in large numbers to achieve the highest of accolades. In Ireland, only those who have stroked the right egos and bought drinks for the right people are given the opportunity to achieve what we all have the right to work for, a right taken away when you do not tow the line. A person, a group, an organisation, an idea even cannot grow without new ideas and opinions and ways of doing things. If you keep forcing people out and refuse to accept fresh ways of doing things or let new people in, if you close something off to the world rather than opening it up and letting the world in, it will wither. It needs the light of day to grow. Keeping the old allows things to rot and decay. You need new and fresh to bring new life and allow growth, renewal, rejuvenation and the possibility of reaching heights never before dreamed of.
We all know that it is possible for Ireland to have a world class team to rival the best of the best. Any country can have it. Governing bodies just need to pull their heads out of their asses and get it going. Coaches need to do the same. If they never let their heads get anywhere near their asses it would be even better. Unfortunately, no matter how much we want it, it doesn't seem to be happening in Ireland. The people who should be doing what you would expect them to do are so interested in what their colons look like that they've forgotten why they are actually in the positions they are in. I have seen too much going on to ever believe that anything other than a completely new group of fresh minds who have absolutely no interest or desire to kiss up to those already around could ever have a hope of doing what needs to be done.
I don't know about anyone else, but I am sick of politics and personal crap being brought into sport. Why can't we let sport be sport? Why can't we allow the swimmers who deserve the places to advance to their highest potential do just that? Why are so many punished for not being lap dogs while others who just can't reach the levels required are rewarded for puckering up? I refuse to accept that the only way any of us can be the best is to stroke the egos of some, undermine others and jump when told and then ask 'how high?'. Why do we accept the way things are? I say no more. No more nepotism, no more taking someones dream away because they won't be a lapdog and no more political games and stupidity. Swimming should be about swimming. Leave it at that and the rest at the door to be dealt with outside of the swimming pool.

mad m

I think what you said applies to most things in life/work and not just swimming....

Its some post for your first post ill give you that!....:)

kris71

I ain't saying you are wrong as I've heard some stories that would fit into your post in the past, but from my experience its easy to throw accusations based on catchy phrases. If you are truly pissed and you don't care anymore why wont you fill us in with some details: a story, some names, you know just real life examples of what happen to you that made you so frustrated. If you truly want to change things go laud and be more specific as now all I'm getting is that you missed your place in a team as you weren't getting long with your coach (this I'm afraid, as mad m said already, works this way all over the world not only in sport but at work as well). Going against the stream is tough but rewarding... provided that you will make it that is another thing that applies to life in general not swim specific.

promethius

what exactly are you on about?
you're going on about new ideas not being allowed in etc yet one of the high performance guys for the junior squads is a yank, ronald klass (belgian i think) is down in limerick with grainne murphy etc.....

interested

sexyh20baby wrote: »

Sports competitions reward those who have excelled in their chosen sport beyond all others and have reached far beyond their goals to achieve everything they have aimed for and more. Well, in theory anyway. In practise I have come to learn that it is an entirely different matter. Not that I can speak for all sports all over the globe, but here in Ireland swimming is less about greatness than it is about kissing ass and doing as you're told. Anyone who does not brown their nose beyond all sanity or dares to have an opinion that differs can go rot in a hole somewhere for all those who have taken control care. They care less about making their country proud and more about having their own egos stroked. Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country does not draw breath anywhere near their doors.
I have seen coaches from other countries take an interest in all of their swimmers and train swimmers in large numbers to achieve the highest of accolades. In Ireland, only those who have stroked the right egos and bought drinks for the right people are given the opportunity to achieve what we all have the right to work for, a right taken away when you do not tow the line. A person, a group, an organisation, an idea even cannot grow without new ideas and opinions and ways of doing things. If you keep forcing people out and refuse to accept fresh ways of doing things or let new people in, if you close something off to the world rather than opening it up and letting the world in, it will wither. It needs the light of day to grow. Keeping the old allows things to rot and decay. You need new and fresh to bring new life and allow growth, renewal, rejuvenation and the possibility of reaching heights never before dreamed of.
We all know that it is possible for Ireland to have a world class team to rival the best of the best. Any country can have it. Governing bodies just need to pull their heads out of their asses and get it going. Coaches need to do the same. If they never let their heads get anywhere near their asses it would be even better. Unfortunately, no matter how much we want it, it doesn't seem to be happening in Ireland. The people who should be doing what you would expect them to do are so interested in what their colons look like that they've forgotten why they are actually in the positions they are in. I have seen too much going on to ever believe that anything other than a completely new group of fresh minds who have absolutely no interest or desire to kiss up to those already around could ever have a hope of doing what needs to be done.
I don't know about anyone else, but I am sick of politics and personal crap being brought into sport. Why can't we let sport be sport? Why can't we allow the swimmers who deserve the places to advance to their highest potential do just that? Why are so many punished for not being lap dogs while others who just can't reach the levels required are rewarded for puckering up? I refuse to accept that the only way any of us can be the best is to stroke the egos of some, undermine others and jump when told and then ask 'how high?'. Why do we accept the way things are? I say no more. No more nepotism, no more taking someones dream away because they won't be a lapdog and no more political games and stupidity. Swimming should be about swimming. Leave it at that and the rest at the door to be dealt with outside of the swimming pool.

For a sport that *should* be about whether you met a qualifying time or not it can sure be full of subjective qualifying requirements. But then again, maybe Im reading in to this incorrectly. Take comfort in what you've achieved on a personal level and move on taking those lessons with you if you've really had enough. As per previous posts, unfortunately the details could be applied to a few sports in many countries but I hear where you're coming from.

Nice first post. Its good to rant

sexyh20baby

With sea swim season no longer around the corner but sitting in side the frontdoor, I find myself pondering a question that, for reasons common to us all, makes me understand the emotion of anger a little bit more. Open sea races have been around for quite a while now. This means that there are swimmers who put the hard work in for these races, have the determination and drive to do what needs to be done and the results speak for themselves. With all of this, the question I find myself pondering is why pool swimmers have been drafted in to compete in open sea races when there are swimmers who have been training for years for such events? Swimmers who not only kick ass in these races but who have put in the hours of training, sacrificed and work hard at what they do, deserving to compete to the highest standards that they can reach in their chosen events.
A few years ago when open sea events finally made it to the Olympics, coaches and officials were sent out to view the races that take place every year along the Irish Coast as well as in some of our rivers and lakes. They saw first-hand just how good our sea swimmers are. And we all know they are so much better than good. They have more than earned the right to represent their country at international open sea competitions. It was assumed and expected that open sea swimmers would be chosen to compete in open sea events. Oh how wrong we were. We forgot, for just one moment, about politics and back-scratching and who-does-what-with-their-money. We forgot that work, talent, determination, drive and the love for what you do means nothing when it comes to choosing swimmers. Out of nowhere, pool swimmers were being sent to international open sea races. But how did they get their times? you may ask. Lane swimming in a calm, warm, controlled pool is completely different to fighting against currents, waves, other swimmers right on top of you and everything else the sea has to offer. It's a completely different kind of swimming. You don't just decide to do something you've never done before overnight and expect to be a master! Somehow, it was decided that holding qualifying swims in a lane in a swimming pool where it was nice and calm and peaceful and polite was completely appropriate. Because the time you would achieve in this environment would be exactly the time you would achieve when fighting and pushing yourself to your extremes in an open sea event! (Hear the sarcasm?!) And showing your face for a couple of easy swims on nice, warm, calm days was completely appropriate experience of open sea races! So who exactly was expected to make the qualifying times I wonder.
The pool swimmers had no idea what they were letting themselves in for when they started swimming in the sea, and everyone knew it. Claiming it was easy and not so bad and they couldn't understand what everyone was going on about was not so easy to believe when you could see the lies written across their faces, not to mention the complete bewilderment and shock. And then there were those who couldn't understand why swims were cancelled due to the weather! Health and safety is important for a reason. Kind of self-explanatory don't you think? Not to mention the fact that the boats couldn't make it out and the kayaks were never going to touch it with a barge-pole...
So this year I wonder just how serious the powers that be are going to be when it comes to open sea races. Are they going to have open sea swimmers compete or let politics, money and you-know-what dictate what happens? Are we going to have pride in our country and sport or let something push that out of the way? Only time will tell if brains will be put to good use or be taken over by nepotism and everything else that is wrong with sport.

kris71

There is one problem with times in ow races, it's hard to standardize them. Same course at a different day may produce different time results for the same swimmer, so the only way to do what you suggest would be to do one all or nothing race where the winner takes it all.

Kevski

sexyh20baby wrote: »

With sea swim season no longer around the corner but sitting in side the frontdoor, I find myself pondering a question that, for reasons common to us all, makes me understand the emotion of anger a little bit more. Open sea races have been around for quite a while now. This means that there are swimmers who put the hard work in for these races, have the determination and drive to do what needs to be done and the results speak for themselves. With all of this, the question I find myself pondering is why pool swimmers have been drafted in to compete in open sea races when there are swimmers who have been training for years for such events? Swimmers who not only kick ass in these races but who have put in the hours of training, sacrificed and work hard at what they do, deserving to compete to the highest standards that they can reach in their chosen events.
A few years ago when open sea events finally made it to the Olympics, coaches and officials were sent out to view the races that take place every year along the Irish Coast as well as in some of our rivers and lakes. They saw first-hand just how good our sea swimmers are. And we all know they are so much better than good. They have more than earned the right to represent their country at international open sea competitions. It was assumed and expected that open sea swimmers would be chosen to compete in open sea events. Oh how wrong we were. We forgot, for just one moment, about politics and back-scratching and who-does-what-with-their-money. We forgot that work, talent, determination, drive and the love for what you do means nothing when it comes to choosing swimmers. Out of nowhere, pool swimmers were being sent to international open sea races. But how did they get their times? you may ask. Lane swimming in a calm, warm, controlled pool is completely different to fighting against currents, waves, other swimmers right on top of you and everything else the sea has to offer. It's a completely different kind of swimming. You don't just decide to do something you've never done before overnight and expect to be a master! Somehow, it was decided that holding qualifying swims in a lane in a swimming pool where it was nice and calm and peaceful and polite was completely appropriate. Because the time you would achieve in this environment would be exactly the time you would achieve when fighting and pushing yourself to your extremes in an open sea event! (Hear the sarcasm?!) And showing your face for a couple of easy swims on nice, warm, calm days was completely appropriate experience of open sea races! So who exactly was expected to make the qualifying times I wonder.
The pool swimmers had no idea what they were letting themselves in for when they started swimming in the sea, and everyone knew it. Claiming it was easy and not so bad and they couldn't understand what everyone was going on about was not so easy to believe when you could see the lies written across their faces, not to mention the complete bewilderment and shock. And then there were those who couldn't understand why swims were cancelled due to the weather! Health and safety is important for a reason. Kind of self-explanatory don't you think? Not to mention the fact that the boats couldn't make it out and the kayaks were never going to touch it with a barge-pole...
So this year I wonder just how serious the powers that be are going to be when it comes to open sea races. Are they going to have open sea swimmers compete or let politics, money and you-know-what dictate what happens? Are we going to have pride in our country and sport or let something push that out of the way? Only time will tell if brains will be put to good use or be taken over by nepotism and everything else that is wrong with sport.

Are you serious? Swimmers are not chosen to compete at competitions, they have to qualify - i.e. they must be good enough. If someone isn't good enough to qualify then they can't compete - end of story.

It seems like you have a serious chip on your shoulder and you make sea swimmers sound like an unwelcoming clique. Did you expect sea swimmers to be just handed olympic places because they swim in a few races during the summer and maybe go to the forty foot a couple of times throughout the year? There is a huge difference between doing well in sea races in Ireland and being world class. Being world class means that swimming must be your life. There's only one Irish open water swimmer that has made that commitment and that is the reason why he competes in international competitions. It has nothing to do with nepotism and makes no difference where someone trains - the cream always rises to the top.

Your attitude towards pool swimmers is disgusting. People with attitudes like yours are what is wrong with sport.

sock puppet

Lots of the best open water swimmers in the world made the transition from pool swimming, and compete in both. It's the same with Chris Bryan.