A leading Australian swimming coach has been forced to apologize to his national federation after running a “commando” style training camp involving mock “executions.”

Rohan Taylor’s elite Carey Aquatic squad took part in the military-style boot camp as they prepared for next year’s Commonwealth Games in Melbourne.

But Swim Australia chief executive Glenn Tasker told CNN that the use of such practices was “inappropriate” and he had ordered Taylor to call a halt.

The controversy came to light after pictures were published in Australia’s Herald Sun newspaper showing youngsters in military uniforms forced to kneel before pretending to be shot with an imitation pistol.

I don’t know enough about Taylor to comment. Certainly, he has a terrific record as a coach. I hope it’s — in spite of — his apparent perception of what’s useful in the real world.



  1. Imafish says:

    The shocking thing is that this hasn’t yet occured in Texas high-school football.

  2. Pat says:

    Ima

    I’m sure that somewhere there is a coach with new inspiration. One of the less commendable aspects of American society is the demand that school sports teams WIN at all costs. Seldom are the games played for fun anymore. A while back I saw there were the Cheerleader finals on one of the sports channels.
    Damn, even the High School Bands are so extremely competitive. I couldn’t believe the ruckus made when our local High School Band made it to State.

  3. Pete says:

    I used to be a member of this squad in question, Carey Aquatic, All i can say is that the situation has been taken out of hand. Everyone was laughing and it was only a small part of the exercise. 20/30 hours a week in a pool something different must be tried, its an alternative to dryland and it was some fun they knew it was fake.


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