WHEN Advocate readers pick up today's paper, New Zealand's top swimmers will have already been selected for the Commonwealth Games. And, good on them.
Take it from me, swimming is not easy. What people do not respect is that these swimmers who will represent our country in September have givena lot to get to where they are, even though they will still be criticised for not winning medals or making finals.
Fact is, swimmers take time to develop and while Commonwealth Games should not be about blooding new athletes it is still something that will happen.
I was told as a young athlete that apparently it takes an athlete eight years at the top level before they reach international maturity. So, for our swim team, there are not many who would be in that boat. For some of that Commonwealth Games team, they are still kids, who have been slaving away in pools around the country for years hoping for a shot at the big time.
I feel these kids deserve the kudos of making the team and hope they take the change in intensity in their strides, because that is what will happen to them.
Swimming for me was just something to do to keep fit, healthy, and safe - with having a life skill of confidence in the water - but it quickly changed once on a representative team.
Once you make a national team, things change. All of sudden you have expectation on your shoulders, whether it is really there or not, and some of the fun can drop off with that. All I hope is these young guns who have been selected take the experience in their strides and learn from it.
People will criticise some of the lesser "developed" athletes in the team for their performances, or lack thereof, but, bugger it, for them Commonwealth Games may just be the first step towards something bigger and better.
