The Swim series - Book One

Chapter 1

For the second night in a row, our school was on the news. "Former Coach speaks out. Allegations of abuse revealed. Money, lies and an Elite swim program built on the backs of children. Join us tonight for a look behind the iron gates of one of Sydney's most exclusive schools"

Last nights headline had run a little differently. Channel Nine chose to focus on our school's many victories instead. "Scotts Slaughter" they titled it. "Sydney Boarding school triumphs at Long course National Championships" Forty-three gold medals had been won in total, and countless records broken.

"That's the image they want you to focus on" the former Coach began his interview. "The medals, the boys, the way that now, no other school can come close to them. But it's just another example of no one wanting to know how the sausage is made. The times those kids are swimming aren't normal, and the methods the school use to get them to swim those times, they aren't normal either"

Coach Spears was young. Mid thirties maybe, with a square jaw and dark brown eyes, that seemed unable to make proper eye-contact with the interviewer. He'd coached at our school for fifteen-years, and swum for Scotts Bradley for eight-years-before that. "Were you a good swimmer?" Madeline Delaney asked.

"I was average" he said, "Scotts average, which at any other school I'd be considered great"

Did he enjoy the sport? Yes, but not the Scotts Bradley's approach to it. He was five-years-old when he joined his first Scott's squad, so he knew our schools take on the sport from the inside out.

"I remember the Coaches coming in" he thought back on his trial. "And lining a bunch of us up on the side of the pool. They chose the kids who were measuring the tallest. They didn't give a damn if we knew how to swim or not, it was all about fitting that pre-determined mould"

The Scotts mould was simple. Be tall and have long arms.

"In swimming, having the right body for the sport is a huge advantage" he explained. "I mean if you've got a tall kid, they've got a lead before they jump off the blocks"

At age eight Coach Spears was selected for a different squad, that focused on children who were showing the potential for Elite. "I was training for five, six, sometimes nine hours a day. I didn't go to class much. I lived and breathed at the pool"

Was the training excessive? In his opinion yes. "Look... you can chuck a five-year-old in a pool and keep him there for the next eight or so years, and yeah, by the time he reaches high school swimming, he's gonna win you a lot of National medals. But is that the right way to do it? Is that fair on the kid?"

"Scotts Bradley have received criticism in the past" Madeline said, "For the high number of injuries their athletes suffer from"

"It's how they train. Not just how long they spend in the water, but the type of sets they've expected to complete. There's zero emphasis on technique and a huge amount of focus on mental toughness. Teach these kids to swim through pain. That's the first instruction I was ever given as a Junior Coach"

The interview cut to show a short montage of Scotts swimmers standing behind the blocks. They wore knee length black racing suits, and sharp silver metallic eyes. "We wear silver but we win GOLD!" the Scotts crowd cheered from the sidelines.

"You retired at eighteen..."

"Because I had to" Coach Spears said. "By the time I reached Year twelve, I'd had two major shoulder surgeries. My body had given out on me and I didn't know what else to do"

Coach Riley was a successful athlete, but he was described as a much more successful Coach. "In fact you trained up and produced, two of Scotts most frightening swimmers"