Steve Johns, Swimming NZ’s New CEO, Looking to Unite the Sport

Photo Courtesy: R-Sport / MIA Rossiya Segodnya

By Dave Crampton, Swimming World Contributor

Swimming New Zealand will have another new Chief Executive Officer next month when Tennis New Zealand CEO Steve Johns switches sports.

Johns would like to unite the sport and make better attempts to attract more swimmers its high performance centre, where swimmers have left due to better coaching opportunities elsewhere.

“We will be looking at getting the best possible swimmers at it,” Johns said. “They may have to move there as part of being a high-performance athlete.”

steve-johns-swimming-new-zealand-new-ceo

Photo Courtesy: Dave Crampton

Prior to spending more than six years heading Tennis NZ, Johns was a regional surf lifesaving CEO, also for six years.

“I believe you have to be in a role for a minimum period of time to make a difference,” he said.

Johns was also a freestyle national title-holder as a young teenager, as well as a surf lifesaving title-holder, and represented New Zealand in water polo. Water sport has been a big part of his life.

“The opportunity to combine my sports management and leadership skills into sports that have played such a big part of my life was an opportunity that I couldn’t resist,” he said.

While Johns said he was looking to better unite the sport of swimming, citing his ability to successfully unite tennis in New Zealand, he said all changes would take time.

“Tokyo is four years away.”

Swimming New Zealand Chairman Bruce Cotterill said Johns’ appointment was ideal for the organisation’s future at a time where more New Zealand swimmers are internationally ranked.

“Steve is a passionate life-long participant in our sport, and he has an excellent pedigree in the business of sports management.

“During the last four years, the revamped Board and the Management team at Swimming New Zealand have worked tirelessly to turn our sport around. In high performance, we have more young swimmers ranked in the top 50 in the world than any time in the previous three Olympiads.”

But one of the first things Johns said he would be doing is talking to High Performance Sport New Zealand, who recently announced it was docking a third of Swimming New Zealand’s high performance funding due to New Zealand swimmers failing to make a final in Rio – as well as looking at the federations strategic plan.

“(That’s) some of the first things I`ll be doing when I start,” he said. “Swimming is such an integral sport in New Zealand so the opportunity to help drive Swimming New Zealand to achieve its strategic goals is a great challenge that I’m really looking forward to.”

Swimming New Zealand’s High Performance Strategy was updated after the Olympics with a goal of achieving podium results at the Olympics, something the federation has not done for 20 years.

“I think the strategic plan has to have targets – whether we achieve them or not, we won’t know until 2020,” Johns said.

Johns will replace Swimming New Zealand’s interim CEO Scott Newman.

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