Fiji presentation for Workshop March 3-6, 2012

BULA, it is really good to be back amongst old friends. Jeannie and I enjoy living on the Big Island of Hawaii, but we miss you and our swimming experiences in the islands.

Living and coaching in Hawaii the past 7 years, has made us realize that there are so many fantastic opportunities for swimmers in the islands, versus living in the USA. As I see it, anyone interested in swimming competition, and living in these islands has many more opportunities to compete and travel internationally. In Hawaii, to compete internationally, you must qualify and compete at several different levels to make it to the top. Here, if you are really committed, you have a good chance of representing your country in international competitions, including the Olympics, for some of you.

I would really like to thank Dennis Miller for inviting me to make a presentation to you and I feel with my experience of starting a swim program from nothing in the Northern Marianas, developing it for almost 30 years, then moving back to Hawaii and coaching club and high school teams would be of interest to you.

In Hawaii a lot of age group and high school swimming is recreational and more social, many of the swimmers are swimming because their friends are or their parents want them to. Very few have aspirations to excel and compete internationally, or represent the USA.

Dennis asked me to talk about the “Issues and Challenges facing Aquatics development in the Islands”, and there are many. All over the USA and many other large countries there are numerous clubs and pool facilities available for aquatic sports, this is not the case here in the islands. I refer to “swimming” in my discussion, but the same applies to open water, waterpolo diving and synchronized swimming, the latter which are even more difficult to develop in the islands.

I am passing around some photos of facilities in the islands, and ideas you may use without a pool. Feel free to see me any time during these sessions to give other ideas, I am here to assist.

FACILITIES :

Yes, a few of us are fortunate to have access to pools, but even if you don’t, you can still organize competitive swimming without a pool, my wife and I did on . was putting a team together for the 1975 South on , and prior to that the only swimming competition had been the Micronesian Olympics in 1969, when swimming was held in the lagoon. I helped prepare a group of swimmers to compete in these 1975 Games, with training only in the lagoon. None of the Micronesian Islands had a competitive pool including Saipan. However, we did have a nice lagoon that would suffice. We built a small bulkhead and floats on three sides and used that for the competition, but most swimming was just done parallel or in and out from the beaches.

In 1974 when we started the Saipan Swim Club we conducted daily training in the lagoon for over 10 years, and, occasionally had access to a small kidney shaped pool at a hotel where my wife worked, and if it was not busy, occasionally, we would have the kids jump in and swim and practice turns and starts(hesitantly) because it was shallow.

In 1976 the Saipan Swim Club competed in the Guam Swim League and did fairly well. Finally in 1987 we had access to a 50m pool built by a Japanese company as part of a casino and sports complex. This was great, the pool was hardly used, and I was given pretty much free reign of utilizing it, mornings and afternoons. Anyway, we coached and managed the club, which I feel was quite successful even without a pool for 13 years. From 1979 onwards, we competed as the , in the South Pacific Games.

Several of you still do not have pools and I can only suggest that you CAN start a program in the lagoon or beach areas, and, construct a floating bulkhead so you can do turns and starts. However, you do need calm waters. I know in Pago Pago it is difficult because there is not an accessible area to do such, at least not yet. The Micronesian Islands have lagoons where something could be done. Both and conducted Micronesian Games and FSM Games Swimming in a pool built in the lagoon, or as they do in Pohnpei, they swim in the rivers, which sometimes is even better because you have currents to contend with, to create resistance or speed. Building something in the open water is always subject to cyclones or typhoons or heavy surf, and all can be damaging.

Samoa has a beautiful swimming complex, but there is a lack of funding to maintain it and its programs. More support is needed to have more programs to utilize the facility, such as water safety and learn to swim programs, the school systems. One private school requires swimming in their curriculum and has started another swim team on the island.

One thing to keep in mind if you have small hotel pools or private pools, swim lessons are more successful if given in a pool, rather than the lagoon, if this is possible.

MONEY/FINANCES:

Travel is very expensive in the islands and almost every competition is “off Island”. In some larger island nations such as Papua New Guinea, it is costly just to travel around the country, as many areas do not have swimming facilities, or pools. The World Champs will provide tickets for swimmers and coach to participate in these competitions, however I do not feel this is enough for the swimmers as the level is very high. I feel more fundraising efforts must be put forward to have your swimmers compete at lower or regional levels, Micronesian Games, Pacific Games, Pacific School Games, , and others. These are more competitive for our swimmers and a medal would always help “swimmings” interest back home, winning even better. But, here again it is an educational experience. Anytime your swimmers travel the first thing they are asked is if they won, or did they win a medal? My response has always been, they did their best and improved their times. Sometimes they did win medals. At regional competitions, Micronesian Games and Arafura, our kids medaled on a regular basis and this certainly helped our efforts in seeking funding to travel. At the same time, it is important to be able to compete at the elite international level.

Money is always an issue and unfortunately, swimming is not like , Football or Rugby which always seems to get the lions share of any funds, and yes, they are also revenue generating and have facilities. A pool could be if one was available, but probably not to the same level.

On Saipan we conducted a Swim-A-Thon every other year and earned up to $20,000.00, and mind you, this was with less than 20 swimmers. They originally began in the open water along the beaches, until we got a pool. We would select an area along the island, and have kids swim about 50 m out from the beach and parallel to them. We had marked off segments up to three or four miles. Once in the pool it was easier. Swimmers started soliciting pledges about three months in advance especially for relatives off island. Businesses would donate flat sums.

Another good money maker was Swim Lessons, and on Saipan there were none available at the time. In the beginning we used a couple hotel pools for a couple hours a day during the summer time and had our swimmers conduct the lessons. We ran a short Instructors Aid course thru the Red Cross, so those teaching had some idea of what to do. My wife and I supervised all lessons and taught the advanced level in swimming. The swimmers first reaction was no, I cannot teach, but some did an excellent job The first couple years we did it free as we felt we owed it to the community for their support during our fundraising, but through their suggestions we ended up charging, and just before we left I think it was about $30.00 per two week session of less than one hour each, for two weeks. We had up to 200 kids per session and earned $2,000 to $3,000 each session.

If you have access to a pool, hosting swim events can raise money, especially events for Masters, have the kids work as officials and put on the meet. This will get the family involved. are popular, and this can be a family thing with the entire family participating as a relay. Open Water swims also, or relays, always bring people together and can act as a fundraiser. Work with your local Sailing or Outrigger Canoe club to have a relay, sail or paddle, swim, run. Biking may be difficult due to roads and the use of bikes. In addition, we had minimal monthly club fees, and the coaches were NOT paid. We set up incentives from our fundraising activities. If a swimmer earned $1,000.00 fundraising, all airfares to regular meets would be paid for by the club, and we traveled to Guam 6-8 times per season, between September to May. If they raised $750.00, portion was paid and I think the minimum of $250.00 had to be raised to receive any benefits from fundraising.

Another activity that helped swimming, but not necessarily financially, was the All School Swimming Championships, still on today. It began in the mid 90’s, once we had a pool. Our club swimmers competed in a meet but competed for their schools, private and public, Divisions were Elementary, Middle and High School. There was an age limit for participation at that each level, and a limit of 2-3 swimmers per event. Initially it was 25’s and 50’s, but later more of the regular events up to 200 and 400 were included. Only the 1500, 400 IM, and 200 Strokes were not included initially.

Later teachers got involved and worked with their kids a month or so before the event. We invited them to come to the pool before our practice and we would spend time with the coaches and swimmers working on strokes. Today, most schools participate.

On a few occasions we received federal grants to purchase equipment such as kickboards, buoys, lane lines, fins, etc.. Each grant was never more than a few thousand.

KNOWLEDGE:

It is very difficult to find “people” who are advocates of swimming, or have any knowledge of competitive swimming, or even who know how to swim, to become coaches for your program. I like to encourage former swimmers to give back and help with the program. Swimming is a “minor” sport in the islands, and also in the USA. You also need to find someone who has time to coach.

Many times you will find someone who has experience, usually an expatriate, but they are only on island temporary, and will eventually leave, leaving you without coaches again. You really need to work on your permanent residents and locals, and really encourage your swimmers to return and get involved in coaching. Many coaches, officials are only there as long as their kids are swimming. Teachers are usually good choices because they already have the teaching skills and usually have time in the late afternoons. I encourage families to get involved, both in coaching and officiating. Coaching Clinics by local coaches is also important. There has to be an incentive for Officials to travel and officiate at international meets to keep up their interest, or attend workshops. Some of these opportunities are available through Oceania now.

Getting entire families involved helped our Saipan program especially when we started triathlons, and initially, our swimmers were always asked to do the swim leg of the , but later mom, dad and the kids were involved in both. We had our kids participate in numerous activities.

We started the Saipan Ocean Swim which is now in its 33srd year, having events ranging from .3miles to 2.5 miles, for ages 8 and Under, 9-10, 11-12, 13-14, 15-18, then masters in increments of 5 years. This again was a money maker for the club with entries and concession. Once Oceania became active I applied for FINA Development Grants and had several clinics paid for by FINA, in Open Water, Technical Officials, and Swimmers/Coaches.

We also brought in many clinicians in at our own expense, mainly to keep up the interest. Depending upon who it was, we tried to tie in our triathletes and masters swimmers to their activities.

MAINTAIN INTEREST:

It is very difficult to keep “kids” interested in swimming year round, anywhere. You need to make the swimming “fun” and have variety. I feel there should be an “off season”, however, the swimmers must be involved in another physical/sporting activity.

Those sports that can really work well together with swimming are: water polo, canoe paddling/kayaks/, open water swims, triathlon, cross country( running clubs). On Saipan we had our swim team for 11 months of the year swimming, however, at the same time we had many other events which the swimmers were encouraged to participate in, or “told to participate in”, road races, triathlons, school sports, paddling.

These all work hand in hand. We also encouraged them to learn other individual sports, tennis, martial arts, just to keep them busy and physically fit. At times depending what part of the season we were in, we let them compete for club or school in other sports, as long as they swim 3-4 times a week. This kept up their interest. In the beginning there were not a lot of youth sports activities, today there are many.

Putting PE into the school system is very important, and not only teach team sports, but including swimming, especially on the islands where a pool facility is available. Make arrangements to have swim lessons conducted at a certain grade level in the school.

I am happy to say that today, several former swimmers from Saipan are earning a living teaching swimming or working as coaches both on Saipan, in Hawaii and on the mainland. Jon and Anneka Sakovich, Justin Pierce, Jacoby and Tami Winkfield, Josh Taitano, Mike Villagomez, and Minerva Cabrera. Shane and Mike McCauley, Tammie Kaae and Jojo Demeterio of Guam. Fiji’s Sharon Pickering and American Samoa’s Rob Scanlan have all gone into coaching. FUTURE:

There are numerous competitions available for swimmers, and as stated earlier, although it is important to experience World Champs and top level competition, it is also important to compete and be competitive in lower level competitions especially regional where expenses are not as high. Few countries have the opportunity to compete in the and , and now the Youth Olympics. Some of these expenses are covered, but only for some of the countries. Not all countries have access to Olympic Solidarity Funding, so other sources are necessary.

There are not many, if any swimming programs in the educational systems throughout the islands, from learning how to swim to competitive swimming. We need to garner more support for Swimming Activities through the education system, make Learn To Swim part of the Educational curriculum and, have our NOC’s if available, or NGO’s, promote swimming from the “safety” end of it.

Every country has problems with water disaster, and very few have Lifesaving programs or people trained in Water Safety. A push in this direction would also help promote aquatics programs and create more interest.

Its great to bring Olympic Swimmers on visits to the islands, and everyone is excited while they are on island, however, unless there is someone on island, who is willing to continue this interest, and promote the sport of swimming, it is not that useful. It is important that the momentum be continued. Regular big events to maintain interest, such as an elite “athlete” or event, Olympians. In 1999 Saipan conducted an All Sports Challenge and brought in over 10 former professional athletes who conducted 3 days of clinics in their respective sports. This was a real blast.

In Summary, some reasons and suggestions to have a competitive swimming program. • Swimming teaches Discipline and Organization through swimming. Best students academically are swimmers. • Travel opportunities • Pools should be multi-purpose (recreational and competitive, scuba, swim lessons, Water Safety Programs, use by the schools) • Should be 25m or 50m to support competitive swimming, minimum 6-8 lanes. • Beaches, floating piers utilized for swimming • Should be in a central local and preferably near a school • Key organizer should be an advocate of swimming • Fundraising • Cleanups, Swim-A-thons, Swim Lessons, organize swim competitions for other organizations, schools, adults, Business Sponsorships, Water Safety Programs Thank you all for listening and I would be happy to answer any questions you may have.

Bill Sakovich Northern Marianas and Hawaii