When marathon swimmer Chad Ho qualified for the Rio Olympics last weekend‚ he gave his coach Alisdair Hatfield a unique hattrick.
The veteran Durban-based mentor will have three athletes competing in three different disciplines at the Games from August 6-21.
Ho is in the men’s 10km open-water swim‚ matric pupil Matthew Meyer is in the regular pool participating in the 1500m freestyle‚ and Henri Schoeman is taking part in the men’s triathlon.
Hatfield believes Ho and Schoeman are medal contenders‚ and he wants Meyer to break 15 minutes and try make the eight-lane final.
Since readmission in 1992 he has coached several swimmers to the Olympics‚ many of them in distance events.
Yet the irony is that Hatfield was a sprinter.
Eligible for British citizenship through his father‚ Hatfield opted to rather try compete for the country of his birth‚ believing there was a chance SA would be allowed to compete in Mexico City. “Two weeks before we were told ‘sorry’.
“It probably made me more determined to be as good as I could as a coach.”
Hatfield clocked 55.1sec for the 100m freestyle at his peak‚ which would have been good enough to make the Olympic semifinals back then‚ although it wouldn’t have made the women’s A-qualifying standard for Rio.
He attributed the improvement in times over the years to several factors.
“It’s training methods‚ and also don’t forget‚ we never trained in winter. We literally swam six months of the year and that was it. That makes an enormous difference.
“The diving and the underwaters‚ I call that a fifth stroke now. It’s completely different to what it was. And obviously the swimsuits also help incredibly.”
Hatfield‚ who coaches at the King's Park pool‚ is critical of the scholarship system in place at most schools.
“They’re not giving purely swimming scholarships‚ now they’re giving sports scholarships … cricket‚ rugby‚ athletics‚ water polo.
“The end result is no one is getting a good basic foundation‚ they’re a jack of all sports and master of nothing.
“Schools are killing Olympic sports because … you need kids from 11 years of age‚ even nine and 10‚ to be doing critical volume. If you’re not‚ you’re not going to make it.”
Hatfield says he is hard on his swimmers‚ but he’s highly protective of them too.
Manning the feeding station for Ho in Portugal on Sunday‚ he got furious when a rival hustled his charge.
“As [Ho] was about to take his one feed‚ this guy right next to him dunked him under the water - my instinct was if someone did something to your child - I felt like taking the feeding pole [used to get the feed to the swimmer in the water] and smashing it on his head.”
Asked his age‚ Hatfield deflected the question. “I still can’t wait to get to training and I’ve probably got more energy than most 30 year olds.”
Durban coach scores unique Olympic hattrick
When marathon swimmer Chad Ho qualified for the Rio Olympics last weekend‚ he gave his coach Alisdair Hatfield a unique hattrick.
The veteran Durban-based mentor will have three athletes competing in three different disciplines at the Games from August 6-21.
Ho is in the men’s 10km open-water swim‚ matric pupil Matthew Meyer is in the regular pool participating in the 1500m freestyle‚ and Henri Schoeman is taking part in the men’s triathlon.
Hatfield believes Ho and Schoeman are medal contenders‚ and he wants Meyer to break 15 minutes and try make the eight-lane final.
Since readmission in 1992 he has coached several swimmers to the Olympics‚ many of them in distance events.
Yet the irony is that Hatfield was a sprinter.
Eligible for British citizenship through his father‚ Hatfield opted to rather try compete for the country of his birth‚ believing there was a chance SA would be allowed to compete in Mexico City. “Two weeks before we were told ‘sorry’.
“It probably made me more determined to be as good as I could as a coach.”
Hatfield clocked 55.1sec for the 100m freestyle at his peak‚ which would have been good enough to make the Olympic semifinals back then‚ although it wouldn’t have made the women’s A-qualifying standard for Rio.
He attributed the improvement in times over the years to several factors.
“It’s training methods‚ and also don’t forget‚ we never trained in winter. We literally swam six months of the year and that was it. That makes an enormous difference.
“The diving and the underwaters‚ I call that a fifth stroke now. It’s completely different to what it was. And obviously the swimsuits also help incredibly.”
Hatfield‚ who coaches at the King's Park pool‚ is critical of the scholarship system in place at most schools.
“They’re not giving purely swimming scholarships‚ now they’re giving sports scholarships … cricket‚ rugby‚ athletics‚ water polo.
“The end result is no one is getting a good basic foundation‚ they’re a jack of all sports and master of nothing.
“Schools are killing Olympic sports because … you need kids from 11 years of age‚ even nine and 10‚ to be doing critical volume. If you’re not‚ you’re not going to make it.”
Hatfield says he is hard on his swimmers‚ but he’s highly protective of them too.
Manning the feeding station for Ho in Portugal on Sunday‚ he got furious when a rival hustled his charge.
“As [Ho] was about to take his one feed‚ this guy right next to him dunked him under the water - my instinct was if someone did something to your child - I felt like taking the feeding pole [used to get the feed to the swimmer in the water] and smashing it on his head.”
Asked his age‚ Hatfield deflected the question. “I still can’t wait to get to training and I’ve probably got more energy than most 30 year olds.”
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