British swimming thrives on tough love
Best pool performance since 1984 is down to four key areas. By Daniel Schofield
Following the tenures of American Dennis Pursley and Australian Bill Sweetenham, which stretched back to 2000, British Swimming turned in-house to Bill Furniss, who was appointed as head coach alongside Chris Spice, a performance director for British Basketball and the Rugby Football Union, in the aftermath of London 2012. Furniss, who coached Rebecca Adlington to two gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics straight away made two things clear: that mediocrity was unacceptable and that he would be doing things the “British way”.
That meant setting standards rather than copying them. It has also involved the administration of some tough love. Britain’s qualifying standards at the Olympic trials were the toughest in the world. Chad le Clos, the then 200 metres butterfly Olympic champion, would not have gained an automatic berth, which was achieved by only eight British swimmers, although a further 18 were selected for the Games having fallen within the two per cent of that time at the trials. That meant no place for the likes of Ross Murdoch, the 200m breaststroke Commonwealth champion and holder of the fifth-fastest time in history.
“You put five Olympic rings up there and it brings a whole tension with it,” Furniss said. “In some respects, it sorts out the wheat from the chaff. It gets the people on the plane who you want on the plane.”
Pressure
Whereas the home support of London 2012 inspired British athletes to run faster and jump further in track and field, it had the opposite effect at the Aquatics Centre. Not only was the return of one silver and two bronze medals well below expectations, but only a minority of the British squad were able to set personal bests. Many did not even produce season bests. “We overhyped the whole thing,” Furniss said.
Breeding mental resilience quickly became a priority for Furniss. Setting the bar high at the trials was part of that. “There’s an element of toughness about it when you need world top-five times just to be here,” Jazz Carlin said after winning a silver medal in the 400m freestyle.
Yet Furniss, who appointed sports psychologist Bill Beswick, has also been careful not to confer extra pressure by setting medal targets, preaching the sports psychologist’s fundamental tenet of prioritising performance over result.
“We’ve done a lot of work in training the mind these past couple of years,” Adam Peaty, the 100m breaststroke gold medallist, said. “Bill [Furniss] said something really vital to me, he just said ‘Burn the boats’. So you imagine doubt was a boat, you burn it and then attack. when you are facing thousands and thousands of soldiers, you’ve got to attack and you’ve got no choice to retreat. That has really helped me come on now.”
Preparation
No stone, from the biggest rock to the smallest pebble, was left unturned by British Swimming in their preparation for Rio. Team GB’s training base at Belo Horizonte featured the only 50m indoor swimming pool outside Rio de Janeiro while training was tailored on the basis of two years’ worth of research to ensure the squad’s body clocks would be attuned to the late timings of the swimming finals. While most major meets start at around 7.30pm, in Rio the finals do not get under way until 10pm for the benefit of American television audiences and swimmers often do not get to bed until 3am or later.
“It is pointless being upset by the times like some countries have been,” Furniss said. “It is what it is, you just have to deal with it.”
To ensure the swimmers get a good night’s sleep, they have been booked on the top floors of their accommodation, while special earplugs, blackout blinds and mattress toppers have been installed.
Speaking after her silver medal in the 200m individual medley in the early hours of yesterday morning, Siobhan-Marie O’Connor said: “The conditions we had for the holding camp were brilliant. To get the only 50m pool in Brazil to train in was perfect. We had a tough trials but it meant we came here the best prepared team.”
Furthermore, Nigel Redman, the head of elite coach development, and Spice are already studying this cycle and planning for Tokyo in 2020.
Talent
All the earplugs and exhortations in the world would be fairly redundant if Furniss did not have the raw talent with which to work. In that respect, he has luck on his side to be head coach at a time when a once-in-a-generation talent such as Peaty bursts on to the scene with his three world titles and records. O’Connor was a little girl lost at London 2012 and still has her peak ahead of her at 20.
So, too, James Guy, who made up for his personal disappointment in the 200 and 400m freestyle by anchoring Britain’s 200m freestyle relay to silver on Tuesday. Overall two thirds of this squad did not compete at London 2012. Those who did, such as Halsall, have spoken in detail at how they have put it behind them. The only notable baggage was that stolen en route from Belo Horizonte.
As Guy put it: “London wasn’t great but there were three medals and fair play to Becky [Adlington] and Michael [Jamieson] – but we there is a new era now,” Guy said. “London is done and we are turning it around.”
From a pool of despair, British swimming is now leading the way.