FORUM: Into The Depths Of An American Debate Too Shallow To Drown A Mouse In
As the U.S. swim community has a scrap over a bone with no meat on it, until Michael Phelps weighed in with clarity yesterday, we consider the difference between the shallows of a tiff and the depths of real debate in a sport of Dickensian tendency when it come to 'truth and nothing but the truth'
THEMA - WHERE SWIM EAGLES DARE
What to make of the U.S. civil war? No, not the one that ended slavery in the 'New World'; and no, not the one underway in the tribal swamp of elephants and donkeys, with sincere apologies to both those fine creatures, which deserve no association with the human toxicity spilling from Gotham into a world well beyond American borders.
I'm talking about the civil war in American swimming sparked by an Associated Press report that began in the press room in Singapore at World titles with a question from a colleague who asked me, "do you think Rowdy Gaines might say anything?"
I thought he might - and he did. And then Michael Phelps weighed in too. What followed was a classic for our digital times, a pile-on of opinions and arguments soaked in a conflation and confusion of issues within the American swim community and a niche of observers and scribblers who, despite their First Amendment, appear to be afraid of anything resembling any true depth of explanation or understanding.
Yesterday, Phelps - he of the 23 golds atop 28 Olympic medals 2004-2016, the prizes won after a fifth place in the Sydney 2000 200 'fly aged 15 - called for a "360" degree independent review of USA Swimming and its board of directors.
His statement, in full below, elevated him from a key player skimming the surface of 'click-bait' debate to a serious player calling for scrutiny of leaders in a sport in which such things have long been viewed by leadership after leadership as the 'enemy in the camp' and a threat to the failing, often self-serving status quo.
Bravo, Mr. Phelps! There's a much bigger journey to be had than getting Team USA in shape for a home Games, of course, but shining a bright light on a place that can make a huge difference is a great first step.
That light should be trained, too, on any former leaders and board directors still calling the shots in international governance, for there is surely now a strong case for an integrity inquiry that stretches to the top table of World Aquatics.
Why, well, the president of Swimming Australia faces an integrity inquiry over far more trivial matters than some related directly to leadership issues at USA Swimming that ought to have been addressed long ago. Here's a reminder of the global executive interference that preceded a snub to Australia (in the form of a vote to make Matt Dunn a vice-president of World Aquatics against the wishes of the domestic board that World Aquatics insist Dunn has a right to sit on) and its right to say which Australian it would like at the top table of world swimming:
Craig Lord
Back to Singapore 2025 , and at the heart of emotions were two related, but not-to-be-conflated, issues:
- the performance of the USA at the World Championships in Singapore, in the pool, linked to illness picked up on pre-event camp in Thailand (in common with other teams) but deeper than a setback that also affected Great Britain and others, without quite so much attention paid.
- governance, including why its almost a year since the USA Swimming CEO stepped down but a permanent replacement has yet to be appointed.
State of Swimming understands that an appointment has been all-but made, pending final checks and balances designed to avoid a repeat of this embarrassing series of events:
Craig Lord
In the week since getting home from Singapore, there's been a lot to catch up on, including the garden, a great place to chew the cud, what with all those weeds to get into.
Below is an long-term outsider observers groundhog day-in-the-life take on a swim civil war that will, for better or worse, play out in Los Angeles at a home Olympics three summers on (assuming bigger civil and international wars don't force a change in plans).
In Part 1 of this two-part FORUM (It might be three but I'll let you know), I'll start at breakfast with the ghost of USA Swimming present, and my perception of what started out as a 'click-bait debate', Phelps a key player among them before he stepped up to being a serious player.
Up until that point, and in important ways even now, it's been a much-needed debate but one that's been no debate at all, in the sense conveyed in our headline: it's so shallow, you couldn't drown a mouse in it.
Yes, there have been plenty of ducks and drakes 'oohh's!' and 'aahh's!' as pebble-chuckers have done a magnificent job of flying their missiles spectacularly close to the water, touching down on a point here, another there, before the stone plops down to its resting place on the bed of a pool, river, lake or sea. Missing is the return of the stone to tell us what it discovered in the weeds and depths of real rot that might have been rooted out long ago to the benefit of the sport worldwide
It may be helpful in this public part of my trawl to remind ourselves what "Debate" looks like, sounds like, feels like as it skips along the blinding light of dawn on the horizon of the new day and truth-soaked cultural shift it aims to deliver (NB: I was baptised in the Catholic Church not long after arrival this time round, confirmed in my youth, and have not been embittered by any personal experience of abuse or harm beyond the odd clip round the ear from a nun on her way to confession ... I am, however, informed enough to take the following in and receive it as part of the essential checks and balances that surely help lead us all closer to being 'a force for good'):
So, that's the kind of debate and scrutiny that every sports institution should face if they're to be a force for good. And on that note, in part 2, we'll leave breakfast in time to make our way to lunch with the ghost of USA Swimming's past.
Then, I'll spirit you away for supper with the ghost of USA Swimming's future before we land back in the present, three years out from a home Olympic Games back in LA for the third time in 96 years (1932: USA No 2 swim nation on medals, a snap with 5 golds but three silvers adrift Japan), the first time in 44 years (1984: thumping dominance, with 21 gold and 13 silvers at a boycotted Games free, at least, of communist-performance candy) and the first time in the U.S. for 32 years (1996: resounding win, 13/32 golds, RUS, HUN & Michelle Smith* closest, and 26/96 medals overall, Australia and Germany closest).
A final thought on the spirit we take to the water as we plunge in to the place the skimming stone dropped:
"It is not our abilities that show us what we truly are. It is our choices. It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to your enemies, but a great deal more to stand up to your friends ... we must face up to the choice of what is right and what is easy" - Dumbledore to Mr. Potter
On your marks ...
