Sweetenham Is Back On Deck Under New Plan

By Craig Lord

LONDON, November 10. BILL Sweetenham, Great Britain's outspoken national performance director, is to return to full-time coaching as part of a restructuring process in the wake of Britain’s disappointing return of two bronze medals from this summer’s Olympic Games in Athens.

Sweetenham, who indentified coaching as “our key weakness,” will also play no role in future short-course teams. John Atkinson, who is promoted from National Youth Coach to Director of World-Class Programmes, will instead lead the 45-strong team to the European Short-Course Championships in Vienna next month.

“I was spending 80 per cent of my time on administration and 20 per cent on deck,” Sweetenham said. “It’ll be the other way round from now on . . . John will take on many of the administrative roles that kept me off the deck.”

Sweetenham described Atkinson as “my right-hand man off the deck,” while Ian Turner, as National Head Coach at the helm of the senior athlete programme, will remain his “right-hand man in the water.”

Turner will also take on a four-year responsibility for developing a group of young 200 meter freestyle men capable of racing for an Olympic medal in the 4 x 200 meters relay in Beijing and leading all teams selected to compete at world short-course championships until 2008. Ben Titley will take on the same relay-developing role for women, while Tim Jones will leave Scotland to replace Atkinson as head of youth and age-group programmes.

“I believe this is the most advanced structure in the swimming world and it will lead to sustained success,” Sweetenham said. “Just like it wasn’t just about Athens, it’s not just about Beijing but about London 2012 and beyond.”

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