Fiji Presentation for Oceania Swimming Workshop March 3-6, 2012
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Fiji presentation for Oceania Swimming 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 Saipan. Micronesia was putting a team together for the 1975 South Pacific Games on Guam, 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 Northern Mariana Islands, 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 Pohnpei and Kosrae 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, Arafura 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 Baseball, 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. Triathlons 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.