TIME TO GET TOUGH

GREAT’S GAMES STRATEGY:

SWIMMING master coach Laurie Lawrence has a toughlove strategy for making Australia great again in the pool.

It ranges from making elite swimmers do menial chores around the pool to keep them grounded, through to constant racing.

Administrators might not like what he has to say, since he believes teams have not been prepared for tough racing when they turn up to swim at big events like the Commonwealth and Olympic Games.

Lawrence says Australian swimmers have to be made to race, race and race again.

“If you want to go to the Commonwealth Games and perform, you have to be race tough,’’ Lawrence said.

“First of all you have to make the team, then you’ve got to train twice as hard and you have to be race tough at the end. You need to shape up.’’

Part of his strategy requires a shake-up for coaches who give stars cottonwool treatment, and not just in swimming. As a former Australian rugby union player, his message applies across all sports.

“(Some) see the kids as their meal tickets, so they don’t keep them grounded,’’ he said.

“They don’t say pick up that rubbish on the way out and give us a hand to pick up these kickboards.

“Whether they’re an Olympic champion, world champion or s***kicker, everyone is responsible and that is just one of the reasons why the All Blacks cane us, because they’re grounded, they make their beds, they clean up the dressing room after they’ve finished, and we need to do that.”

Lawrence urged swimmers selected for Commonwealth Games to embrace it all.

“It might be your last Games, the last time you represent Australia, (or) it could be the start of an illustrious career,’’ he said.

“Whichever it is, enjoy it and leave no stone unturned to be your best performance.’’

But he warned the Aussies that a best effort at the national trials would not be enough.

“You have to back it up and go better at the Games. If you can’t do your best there, you’ve fallen short of what you’re capable of doing,’’ he said.

“And that’s what our Australian team have done a few times in the past. They’ve gone to swim at the Games, and not to race at the Games.”