Here is why we are doing poorly at these Olympics: 1. Lack of career progressions for coaches A number of top coaches have left Australia, and worse, many young, up and coming coaches have also left for bigger pay packets in Europe and the US and low-taxes in Asia. This is directly related to the poor pay and conditions outside of the various state institutes, which whilst contributing a significant percentage of Australia's Olympic team only represent a minority of total athletes being coached. Take swimming for example. In the mid 90's the average FULL-TIME salary of a swim coach was around 35k. It's the same now; where you can actually GET a full-time role. Most of the best coaches are retiring, and the younger ones see better $$$ overseas, and who can blame them? In the late 80's and 90's you did all your training through the coaches association, then got a job. Now days many of the younger coaches are highly educated - holding TAFE Diploma's, exercise science degree's, even masters and yet the pay and conditions have gone, in real terms, backwards. So that is one reason. This is also compounded by the lack of business opportunities, whereas in previous decades coaches could bid for council facilities, today's market reality is that large-scale leisure corporations win the tenders, which are normally structured in such a way (insurance requirements, etc) to exclude sole-operators. So a combination of stagnant pay, rising qualification demands (and associated HECS debt etc) lack of business opportunities etc is seeing many young coaches head overseas. Whilst I’m not exactly pro-union, this is one sector that could probably do with a good shake up. In addition, feedback I get from my students (I teach sports related subjects at a TAFE and lecture casually for a university) is that various coaching courses have declined in standards. A classic example is Austswim, the learn-to-swim qualification - feedback is that they are teaching these new learn to swim teachers fundamentally flawed stroke mechanics, which then take a long time to correct at junior squad level. The whole attitude is 'why teach Olympic level technique if it's just to make my child safe?' misses the point that if two swimmers (a) and (b) are caught in a rip and (a) has a crappy 'Austswim standard' stroke and (b) has been taught CORRECT stroke mechanics, all factors being equal swimmer (b) has a better chance of survival as they will be more efficient, tire slower and thus have a better chance of survival. So that's a big factor: standards of athletes coming through the 'system' is poorer, the standards taught at lowers levels is dropping, coaches are moving off-shore or simply getting out of coaching because they can't make a living. 2. Reduction in participation Schools used to be the engine room of sport. Not any longer. In response to the whole 'every child is a winner' and the anti-competitive nature of 'outcomes based' education drivel that fills most state education authorities, kids don't do sport at school much these days. School swimming carnivals used to be compulsory. Not any more. You needed to be a cripple to get out of cross-country, now a note from mum or dad will suffice. Schools seem to be missing the point that sport, more than anything else, teaches kids to set goals, and how to handle success AND failure. Not everyone can be a winner in every situation. So we need to get sport back on the agenda and also get these loony education 'experts' to see that competition in itself is not a bad thing. 3. Lack of Athlete progressions Beyond the professional football codes, there is not much money to be made in sport. Even the top swimmers don't make enough to retire on. Most who win medals in rowing, gymnastics, swimming etc will never make enough to support themselves during their career, let alone afterwards. Suggestions that we should introduce a HECS-style scheme for Athletes at various institutes are hair-brained. What IS needed is an NCAA type system to support our athletes beyond high school. The reality of 21st century sport is that it is difficult for teenagers to be competitive. Athletes, both male and female, in MOST sports peak sometime in their 20's. That university age. So we need to support our athletes. The NCAA is the engine room of the American Olympic story. The guy that beat Hackett? Trains in an American college! We NEED an NCAA style system DESPERATELY. If we set up such a system, even in the group of 8 universities, we'd probably get close to topping the Olympics in 8-12 years. I've lost count of how many swimmers and runner ranked in the world top-100 give up during year 12 never to return. They may not be the Ian Thorpe’s of Michael Phelps of the world, but it is those athletes that push the great one upwards, the ones that give depth and the ones we need the most to create a culture of excellence. Look at the USA - their Olympic trial men's 200m freestyle final was faster than the actual Olympic event! That comes from DEPTH. Athletes in the 21st century need to train beyond high school and need support to do so. I don't think the Chinese system of sports-schools (derived from the USSR system) would work in Australia, but a USA inspired NCAA system would. The problem is cultural - look at the GPS schools in Sydney and how long it took them to get around offering sports scholarships to students. You still have some schools refusing the give sports scholarships as they don’t 'add to the school community' and yet those same schools give scholarships for music, arts, drama and academics. If we can get that type of system going, we stand a chance. In short, we need to give our coaches real career pathways and real money. This needs to come about by industry reform. We need to raise basic standards delivered to beginning athletes by improving the standards taught in basic coaching courses. Getting it 'ok' is not good enough. Standards in learn to swim have gone BACKWARDS in recent years. 20 years ago every child was taught bi-lateral breathing and bent arms in freestyle. Now breathing to one side is 'good enough' and bent arms considered 'optional'. That's declining standards. Similar story with foot placement in athletics. We also need to cut out the cancer that is the 'anti-competitive' band-wagon in schools and get all kids participating in key sports such as athletics (as running is a foundation skill of almost all team sports from netball through to basketball and football codes) and swimming (we are a coastal nation) and be wimps in enforcing participation - kids that play sport will be healthier in later life and cost us, the tax-payers, less in medical expenses later in life if they leave school fit, healthy and enjoying exercise. We also need to implement a series of sports-scholarships at universities in key Olympic sports and turn each university into a mini-AIS. We need to value those athletes that push the Olympians, and the coaches that produce them (they are the ones most likely to become expatriates coaching the athletes that beat our home-grown athletes, look at Brett Hawke or Bill Sweetenham) Finally, we need to realize that the institute system, whilst an innovation at the time, and still important, is not the sole answer: cultural change is. We need schools to be teaching sport every day and have sporting teams after school, again, every day, and we need industry reform so that coaches of all levels can make a LIVING from their profession and not have to take second jobs to make ends meet. I think it's a joke that I know two coaches with Olympians this time around and both are paid causally and have second jobs to pay the rent. We need to get real about sport at all levels and stop being soft. Then we'll be world-beater again and not a bunch of 'could-have-been's'

what does your thorpe say now? ha ha ha ha ha ha go phelps!

Phelps could do with some lessons in gracious behaviour... All that rah rah beat my breast, how good m I stuff is very unattractive!

Please ignore "independant citizen" - he needs remedial spelling lessons to accompany his remedial instruction in manners. OTOH, cut Phelps some slack - his breast-beating was in the heat of the moment and was a celebration of a pretty outrageous swim on the part of Jason Lezak. Apart from the relays I think he's been pretty subdued. I think Phelps has carried himself pretty well for a big goofy dude under a mountain of pressure. I'd like to think we Americans as a whole have acted with a bit more humility than we have shown since the horribly jingoistic 1984 games. Maybe being embarrassed by the stupidest Western government since the 19th century has something to do with that. In any case, when Kobe Bryant and Jason Kidd are acting gracious you know someone's been eating humble pie for whatever reason. Maybe that fun-loving Aussie spirit is rubbing off on our guys?

I read the comment above as a US citizen who follows swimming closely. I have no special knowledge of the "state" of swimming in Australia but do believe you are the biggest rival the US has in world class swimming. All countries experience a let down at times in their sports programs and it is clear from the news I read that you believe your swimmers are on the decline. I do not pretend to offer suggestions to you. I am, like most US followers who follow swimming, a swim parent whose children swam competitively for many years. Our program in USA Swimming is a club program and that is where the vast majority of our swimmers come from. The NCAA is also a big support organization for elite swimmers but in the end it is USA Swimming that provides these swimmers with their competitive venues. We have enjoyed a healthy rivalry with Australia over many years and it fuels our desire to be good as we hope it does for you as well. I have to say that during these games, I have pulled for Aussie swimmers who were not in direct head to head competition with our swimmers and I was particularly saddened that Hackett took silver in the event that you have taken to a level of excellence that we have yet to approach. I admire your swimmers and hope that the Duel in the Pool in 2009 will be as competitive as it has been in the past.

Swim to keep cool - I don't get the speed thing.

A heroic failure! Get a life Doug Conway! This guy does second best in the world and you call it a failure!