LONDON, England, September 3. JUST days after speaking out about criticism of his coaching style, as reported here, Bill Sweetenham's resignation from British Swimming as its National Performance Director has been announced.
According to a release from British Swimming, Sweetenham wrote to British Swimming Chief Executive David Sparkes in December of 2006 stating his intention not to renew his contract after the Beijing Olympics. That letter went on to request that British Swimming consider releasing Sweetenham from his contract either after the FINA World Championships in March, or at the conclusion of the summer season. Both parties have come to the conclusion that Sweetenham will "step down at this time."
"Bill leaves British Swimming with our best wishes for his future," Sparkes said in the release. "We asked him to join British Swimming following the Sydney Olympics in 2000 when our records were at a low ebb. Since then his whole approach to international competitive swimming has revitalized the fortunes of the national squad and had exactly the effect and impact that we hoped it would across the sport in the UK. Under Bill's guidance the British Swimming squad has achieved some of its best ever results with record hauls of medals from World Championships and Commonwealth Games.
"It was always Bill's intention to leave after Beijing and, knowing that, we have already made plans and started to implement the process to appoint a successor of the same proven quality," Sparkes continued in the release. "The key was to ensure this procedure sought not only the best candidate but also in a time frame that ensured as much continuity as possible for our athletes and their coaches as they prepare for next year's Olympics. This process is coming to a successful conclusion and we will be making an announcement shortly on our succession plan."