Swimming: First steps towards sorting out sport in crisis

Murray Coulter. Photo / Getty Images

Swimming officials hope to take the first steps on a united path forward on Monday.

After months of slanging between various factions and the Swimming New Zealand board, a special annual meeting in Wellington tomorrow will vote to approve an SNZ review of the sport, to be done in association with government sports agency Sparc.

Eight of SNZ's 16 regions sought the mass resignation of the national body's board in the wake of the controversial Ineson Report into the state of the sport in mid-year.

The annual meeting was to be held in late September, but was deferred at short notice. Trouble was brewing and so efforts were made to bring the grumbling parties to the table. A plan to sort out SNZ's mess was put in place, and the next step takes place this weekend.

Chairman Murray Coulter resigned but otherwise the sport is in a holding pattern. A working group has been named to conduct the review into all aspects of swimming, from high performance to recreational.

It comprises four people with "swimming knowledge" - former Olympic silver medallist Gary Hurring, Swimming Auckland chairwoman Teresa Stanley, Swimming Waikato chairman Simon Perry and Swimming Canterbury president Wayne Rollinson - and four independents, Australian and New Zealand Sports Law Association president Ian Hunt, professional director Susan Paterson, prominent businessman and sports administrator Peter Fitzsimmons and a chairman to be confirmed.

Calling for big change were Auckland, Canterbury, Nelson-Marlborough, Bay of Plenty, Taranaki, Southland, Hawkes Bay/Poverty Bay and the coaches association.

The working group will in turn report to a steering committee, made up of SNZ chairman Ross Butler, Sparc chief executive Peter Miskimmin and director Bill Birnie, and Jim Swanson representing coaches and regional swimming associations.

SNZ approached Sparc to be involved and try to unpick a situation fast becoming untenable. The nub of the issue is sorting out a sustainable organisational model for the sport across all elements.

"This is an opportunity for the community of swimming to consider what the future operational model and design will be," Miskimmin said yesterday.

"Here's a sport that's been arguing among themselves for some time to start again. It's an opportunity for galvanising, coming together and agreeing what is the best way forward."

If the terms of reference are approved this weekend, the review is expected to start on December 1, with the first draft completed by April 15 next year.