SWIMMING: Deryk's in at the deep end

AFTER the umpteenth leg of his nationwide tour, Deryk Snelling could be excused for having become a bit like Liam Gallagher - erratic, reclusive and abusive.

Happily, he has not, though he's not sold 12 million records worldwide either.

An articulate, intelligent man, whose accent, formed originally in Darwen, has submerged into a measured North American drawl after spending 30 years in Canada, he is assessing swimming standards across the country.

Since his appointment two months ago as National Performance Director to the British squad, Snelling's schedule has been tough and his mission about 100 times moreso.

Put bluntly, he wants to make Britain "the number one nation at the Olympic Games in four years".

Put in context, if he makes us competitive before Noah returns in the ark he'll have done a good job.

Two medals from the last Olympics and a solitary gold from the Games before reflects the impoverishment that has taken grip. An injection of cash, implementation of a strategic programme for swimmers and coaches and the fusion of team spirit, Snelling believes, will reverse this trend.

Cynics counter that fattening up a family of ducks might be a better bet.

Snelling's optimism is fuelled by the government's recent conversion to the cause, exemplified by John Major's endorsement of the Football Association's bid to host the 2006 World Cup and the Sports Council's commitment to funding much-needed additional resources for Britain's athletes.

Cash and a few nice words from the Prime Minister can't guarantee gold medals nor sporting excellence but at least they're a start.

"Money isn't the only problem, facilities aren't the only problem and athletes, quality athletes, are certainly not the problem," asserted Snelling despite there being fewer indoor 50m pools in this country than in the Canadian city of Winnipeg.

"But bringing all that together comes down to certain things.

"One of them, critically I think, is the role I have which is leadership.

"Another is confidence. You gain confidence from success, not from constant failure.

"You build from there and you get a tradition. "That tradition filters down right through the system and affects everything and everyone from managers to athletes to the people who write about them.

"Confidence only comes through winning.

"I really believe we have to start winning often and start winning big.

"And I think that when we believe we can be number one in the world - it may elude us because conquering the world is tough - but if we aim for it, even if we slip, we're still going to come way up the ladder from where we are today.

"Then, eventually, people will start off from that level for this country when they come into the system, and not have to try to elevate us to that higher plateau like they have to now."

Coming from anyone associated with British swimming over the past decade or more, such talk could be dismissed as idle rhetoric at best or, at worst, drug-induced delirium.

What makes Snelling's perceptions impossible to disregard are his credentials.

Coinciding with a concerted drive by the Canadian government to push the country to the forefront of international sport, Snelling helped his adopted home to 19 Olympic swimming medals, six world records and 23 short course best times.

As national coach, he was instrumental in attracting instructors from all over the world, particularly Eastern Bloc countries, Australia, New Zealand and, of course, the United States, to impart their expertise.

His goal, to create a series of centres providing ideal conditions and suitable support for the country's elite, was achieved in the last two years, culminating in the creation of a national centre at the University of Calgary.

For this work, he received the highest accolade in Canadian society, the Order of Canada, which isn't bad for a 63-year-old Lancastrian who, when 19, got to the brink of selection for the Helsinki Games but was the wrong social class to render him indispensable. "I was English champion but there wasn't sudden death trials," recalled Snelling who, in those days, did his swimming at what was then Darwen Baths, now Darwen Leisure Centre.

"It was a matter of someone selecting you and if you were selectable you were selected.

"They used to think in those days that whoever was selected would win for Britain anyway so it didn't matter.

"But those days are way past."

Having had National Service deferred to accommodate his Olympic bid, Snelling was conscripted into the Lancashire Fusiliers for a two-year stint during which his most dangerous duty was tackling the country's best combatants inside the boxing ring.

Natural fitness enabled him to take care of himself and a hard competitive edge resulted in him being pretty handy with the fists.

It was at this time that he got involved in physical education and once out of the army set about establishing one of Europe's strongest swimming teams in the harbour town of Southampton.

He felt his next move should be into North America where he had visited and studied a series of programmes from California through to Florida.

It didn't take a rocket scientist to recognise that not only were Britain lagging behind, they were headed in completely the wrong direction. Ironically, the major reason he accepted a job in Vancouver in 1967 was to glean valuable information which would benefit the British team.

He had anticipated staying for two years but proved such an asset to the Canadians that they wouldn't let him go for another 27.

"Everything was opening my eyes in those days and I think that's why I eventually chose to leave this country," remembered Snelling.

"I think it opened me up to the fact that Darwen's just a little piece of the world.

"And the more you see of it the more comfortable you become with your position, how you fit in, what you can do and you can learn today from almost anywhere in the world.

"I think every day is an experience like that."

Snelling will hope that what he sees of Britain's performers in next month's inaugural European Short-Course Championships in Germany is a positive experience, whether 100 per cent successful or not.

The team will be without their only two medallists from Atlanta, Paul Palmer and Graeme Smith, and instead will look to Mark Foster, world 50m butterfly short-course record holder, and Neil Willey to lead their bid in Rostock.

"We will be using the meeting as a team building event," said Snelling. "While the individual athletes excel in their own disciplines, we need to concentrate on developing the teamwork. "This is especially true of the men's medley relay where Mark Foster, Neil Willey, Richard Maden and Simon Handley could be challenging for the world record at next year's world short-course championships.

"I really believe that if you press the positive buttons, something's going to happen with everyone.

"We've got so much talent that it's terrific to think of working with these people.

"And they are in Darwen, they are in Blackburn, they're in Burnley, they're everywhere.

"They're hidden away disguised as losers, disguised as ordinary people.

"If you get them in the right place at the right time, those ordinary people are what we sometimes call geniuses a bit further down the road.

"If I can help other coaches, other athletes to come to a successful conclusion with their dreams - I've had mine, my last is to see Great Britain do well - I'll be very satisfied."

His only problem then might be that having made Britain great in the water, some smartass would probably ask him to walk on it.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.