Some high-profile Australian swimmers have complained about sharing their training facilities with a number of Chinese athletes who have moved their training bases to Australia.
Australia’s The Daily Telegraph reported last week that Commonwealth Games champ Thomas Fraser-Holmes left an evening practice in protest when his training group was forced to share the pool with a Chinese squad.
Fraser-Holmes made clear in the Telegraph story that he didn’t intend his protest to be a personal attack on the Chinese swimmers, but did leave the practice because he was upset about sharing the pool with the Chinese group.
“I’m friends with a lot of them. You can pick out your weaknesses and strengths working with those guys,” he said. “But I prefer to train with the squad that I have now.”
Both Fraser-Holmes and Olympic icon Grant Hackett spoke out in the Telegraph piece, questioning the strictness of the doping program monitoring the Chinese athletes. The Telegraph says there is “a growing chorus of Australian swimmers who are fed up with having to train alongside their Chinese rivals, some of whom have been suspended or suspected of doping.”
In the piece, Hackett says he is drug tested about once every four weeks, but has only seen the Chinese group being tested once in the past 18 months.
“That’s all I have witnessed. I don’t know if there are people going to their hotel,” said Hackett. “I just want everyone to be tested equally. I get tested a lot.”
In some ways, the latest report is merely a flare-up in an ongoing struggle within Australian swimming. The national federation, Swimming Australia, announced in 2014 that world record-holding distance swimmer Sun Yang was no longer welcome to train at Australia’s official training centers, even ordering Sun’s coach Denis Cotterell to sever ties with his swimmer.
Since then, though, reports have arisen that Sun remained in Australia and has been training with Brian King, a longtime assistant to Cotterell at the Miami Swimming Club. The Telegraph story reports that perhaps 100 Chinese swimmers are currently training in Australia, with the Australian coaches earning large salaries for coaching the foreign athletes. Also pointed out specifically in the Telegraph piece are world champ Ning Zetao, who trains with coach Matt Brown in Melbourne and Olympic 400 IM champ Ye Shiwen.
Swiss Cheese – it is a reply to SPJ.’s assertions of a Fed Govt fraud case which he later amended to Fed Police .I conte d that you have to be careful.in legal matters &.terminology . SpJ tried to.put out the idea that King ought to ha ed been arrested alsl for beo g in breach of SAL.ruling .This is slander.because there is no law broken .SAL.is like a lawyers board – they can only internally.rule not ring up Sgt Plod to arrest .
I only go by the law .Until BK is guikty in a court of law I will not join your jihad .Nor do I like the dog whistle racism . Count me out .
Gina Jihad??? Are you for real?
Gina, I have enjoyed your various attempts since January 2015 when presented with a differing opinion to you based on fact, that you cite defamation and slander in the hope it will stop comments and plant a seed of doubt in the mind of the audience. Pity for you, my knowledge of the law may be limited but what I do know is you can only defame someone if you say something false about them which spoils their good reputation and makes people want to avoid them. My response above is all true and written in a factual manner. Every piece of information can be backed up by public record, emails, photos and witnesses with regards to King and Cotterell.… Read more »
It’s a bit like New Zealand swimming who seem to let anyone represent the country even if they don’t reside in NZ or have been in the country recently.
6 month general ban ended in January & if is only applicable to affiliated entities & not Non SA registered swimmers .
There are no child abuse charges that I know of .
Gina a lot of your information is confusing…
Part of Brian’s punishment was to serve a 6 month ban after which he needs to reapply for accreditation on the proviso that he also shows his qualifications.
At this stage Brian is not allowed to coach as he has not fulfilled that obligation of showing his qualifications.
As you will recall from previous conversations Brian’s resume has more holes that swiss cheese – once SAL are satisfied his qualifications are legit he can ask for his licence to be reinstated.
As for your comments about Federal fraud case or anything other – why would you or should you know? I’m confused does all swimming information need to cross your desk?
Spj – mth ban has is a 3 year SAL.ban on coaching children but he is able to be a consultant on A private basis . SAl.is not a branch of the law so.how cpuld Qld or NSW police arrest him?
I don’t know anything about the Federal Govt fraud case – they have some powers but it is restricted to high level & tax . it is above my knowledge & surely they control exit & entry to Australia.not you .
So really it is not about the Chinese but about Brian King . But that is not what TFH said as reported on the paper.
Go back to 1 July 2015 when King’s ban kicked in to understand the Cotterell-King-Chinese connection. At the time King was coaching Sun Yang at Oasis Pools, a job he took over from Cotterell after Sun was banned from training at Miami by SAL: King’s punishment was to include a 6-month banishment from coaching swimmers of any kind, followed by a 12-month probationary licence. In total King will not be allowed to coach children under the age of 16 for three years. SAL informed the Chinese swimming federation about King’s case and outcome. On the first day of King’s ban, Cotterell was seen at Oasis coaching in King’s place until King returned to pool deck shortly after despite SAL’s ban.… Read more »
Brian King being in the spot light again – OMG I’m shocked..
Denis Cotterell bringing himself under the spotlight once again – OMG I’m shocked..
Swimming Australian and FINA doing nothing – OK not so shocked!
The Federal Government.decides all.aspects of visitors location & activities not TFH . Australiahas about 1700 50 mtr pools .If one is crowded , find another . TFH might be better off in another program .Perhaps the universe is telling him something . Perhaps he just had a bad day .
Thd fact remains tha the China is where wd geg our main source oc income as a nation & the Gold Coast is a tourisf destination hoping to attract more visiting teams
for training . SWIMMING is part of goods & services we sell.
Good advice for the Chinese swim team to find another pool. Oh wait, this is their sixth pool (?) in 12-months – PBC, Bond, Sports Super Centre, Oasis Pools and again PBC, now Miami. It is not the Chinese who are not welcome at the pools, it is Brian King because he is a banned coach. It is blindingly obvious DC has lost his mouthpiece and whatever arrangement he has in place contract-wise, has taken the Chinese swim team back alongside his own squad (minus Sun). Don’t deflect from the seriousness of this article and turn it into a discussion about the tourism dollar, TFH having a bad day, or bring the Federal Government into the equation. BTW pity the… Read more »
**oops, federal police not federal government
Wahaussie, wahaussie, wahaussie!! Wha, wha, wha
I say! What a bunch of sooks Australians are suggesting the use of performance enhancing drugs in sport warrants serious concern and action! Who has time for allegations 200 days out from Rio international swimmers possibly are exploiting loopholes in the drug testing programs to avoid testing and detection! Cry me a river of tears for the Australian Olympians that want to compete clean and may be beaten by a competitor who is not stronger, faster or more dedicated, but who takes a drug to gain the edge! Why are they whining? Isn’t coming second in the World to a competitor who uses performance-enhancing drugs to get gold not good enough! Sheesh. Where’s the Wambulance! :-/
Just more wahaussie wahaussie wahaussie. Lots of you all called John Leonard a fool when I n 2012 he said it was likely Ye Shewin used PEDs.
Ye Shiwen you say! Funny that! It was Cotterell who called Ye’s critic “ignorant”.
English journalist Craig Lord sums it up beautifully: “Ignorant was an appropriate word for Cotterell to use: he was staring at his own reflection as a coach who could not possibly have known what influences Ye was under back home in China ….”
Well what a surprise coming from Australia, they would throw the hole of china out of their country if they could..
# typical Aussie racism
Why are elite Australian athletes racist for demanding transparency in drug testing and want everyone regardless of what country they are from, tested equally? Why is Swimming Australia Limited racist for disallowing Sun Yang to train at podium centres because he is a drug cheat? Why is it you label Australians racist when it is the Chinese who do not have respect for Australia’s governing swimming body and employ a banned Australian coach? Australia is one of the most culturally and linguistically diverse populations in the world and if you are going to blanket-label Australians racist, know your facts first. Your comment is one, like the Aussies say, a few stubbies short of a six-pack.