In an article in today’s Herald Sun, Swimming Australia High Performance Director Michael Scott says that he is not accepting interview requests for Australian swimmers while they are at their staging camp in Barcelona this week.
According to the Sun article, “Public comments by James Magnussen and his relay teammates put unnecessary pressure on the team last year and the new ”performance culture” demands swimmers are more respectful in the media.”
The issue of the Australian swimmers and the media became a hot topic after a handful of disappointing results at the London 2012 Olympics. On one side, the athletes were criticized for not taking a professional-enough tone in their media interviews, in line with an overall impression of immaturity on the team.
On the other hand, Australian media was criticized for their extremely harsh rhetoric when the medal results didn’t go as planned, including the very above-referenced article that referred to last year’s performance as the ‘London Olympics disaster’.
”We’re just really having what I call a low-key, but professional camp,” Scott said.
”We want to focus in a relaxed and under-the-radar type approach.
”As a team we’re quite strong on the principle that we want to do our talking in the pool, not out of the pool.
”Obviously we will have our media conferences closer to the meet but at this stage we just want a relaxed and enjoyable environment where they can focus on their preparation.”
While the media blockade is probably an effective tool to keep the Australian swimmers focused on the tasks at hand, it’s a bit of a double-edged sword. Swimming Australia lost a major sponsor earlier this year, and the World Championships are already not being aired on television anywhere in the country. This could mean extremely limited exposure for an organization where most athletes have struggled to push themselves past the poverty line, according to an interview done in September with ASA General Manager Daniel Kowalski.
Aussies are overreacting – once again. If you go too far in one sense, it doesn’t mean you should immediately end up to the opposite extreme. Media coverage is what swimming needs. This isn’t an on-off choice but how you interact with media.
I agree. What australian swimmers need is media training.
Yes, however, let’s remember that we (swimming) need colourful characters too, in contrast to humble ones, the likes of Gary Hall Jr. who announces beforehand that they are going to smash their opponents like guitars. It’s exactly what addresses audiences with adding febrile excitement in the air.
Thats is so true too.
Swimming does not have many of these guys.. like other sports.. it is alwasy funny to see guys who are much over everyone in their sports. talk without hiding the truth and trying to play nice (Bolt, Bubka, etc.)
I think it’s a great idea and serves the interest of the swimmers. As for funding, Australia’s elite swimmers are being supported by a mining magnet by the name of Gina Rhinehart.
Ha. Gina does not do failure.