A 'rhetorical question' is when you pose a question as a statement so as to make a direct point and escape direct responsibility for the covert remark.
To give you some back ground, John Leonard is the executive director of the American Swimming Coaches Association (ASCA), the coaching body that both educates and certifies coaches for USA Swimming.
To make it simple, it's an organization where you PAY both the teacher to teach and to certify you. (I wish I could have "paid the teacher" to" teach" and "certify" me in the fourth grade.)
I must mention that John Leonard threaten to sue both myself and Sarah G. after we found out that his corporate filings are not only a complete mess but that his 501c status may be non-existent as well. Not only did this "executive director" back off from suing me, he actually was forced to admit under oath that all the criticisms he levied against both Sarah G. and myself were wrong and that our accusations were absolutely correct! - Ultimately, I don't like the guy.
I have that deposition and I will be sending it to USA Swimming so they can see how their Coaching certifying body does business and I will include suggestions that will propose a better system whereas both departments are separate.. I will also publish it to this blog as a follow up to "whatever happened to John Leonard's corporate filings."
For now, John Leonard said this about a teenage swimmer who had an extraordinary swim in London. Her name is, Ye Shiwen, and in the final 100-free of the her 400 IM she swam a 58.68 thereby capping a world record in the event. She was ultimately the talk of the town both out loud and within whispers.
"We want to be very careful about calling it doping," said Leonard, who is also the executive director of the USA Swimming Coaches Association.
"The one thing I will say is that history in our sport will tell you that every time we see something, and I will put quotation marks around this, 'unbelievable', history shows us that it turns out later on there was doping involved. That last 100m was reminiscent of some old East German swimmers, for people who have been around a while. It was reminiscent of the 400m individual medley by a young Irish woman in Atlanta."
He went on to say:
"I have been around swimming for four-and-a-half decades now," he said. "If you have been around swimming you know when something has been done that just isn't right. I have heard commentators saying 'well she is 16, and at that age amazing things happen'. Well yes, but not that amazing. I am sorry."
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Why is it that USA Swimming tolerates him as to what I consider to be a paid liability. Talk about unmeasured? He may think this stuff or he may bring it up to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) but to make it publicly known to a London paper is essentially Leonard acting as an indirect mouthpiece for both USA Swimming and their certified coaches.
Both should give him a spanking for bad manners.
14 comments:
I was wondering if you saw John Leonard's comments. He was echoing the comments of another good friend of yours, Craig Lord.
http://swimnews.com/News/view/9639
P.U.
It's one thing for a Craig Lord to say it, but this wanker is an outsourced educational and development arm of USA Swimming and what he says is as good as USA Swimming saying it.
On behalf of our athletes, I'm glad someone said it because it is, as he said, "unbelievable" and "disturbing." I hope more people come out and say something so that another generation of swimmers doesn't get shut out by a doping regime.
BTW: Ironic that you bash John Leonard while praising Mark Schubert in an adjacent post... (if my memory serves, Schubert made acusations against the Chinese women while he was the national team coach).
I hate to say but the history of the sport - and I, too, have been around it for 40 years - is such that you have to question a performance like Ye Shiwen's.
She out split Ryan Lochte on the last 25m of a 400 IM. I've never seen anything like that. Never.
She is innocent 'till proven guilty and has passed all doping controls.
What's also fact, though, is that none of the East Germans failed doping controls and neither did the Chinese women in Rome of 1994.
It's really sad that we have to talk about this but the history of the sport, unfortunately, means that we have to.
You question it to the correct body, not the public at large. His words were unmeasured for a public figure that controls the coach certification portion of USA Swimming and thereby appears to be speaking for them.
I think this is really a tactic to get the young girl disturbed before the coming events.
Reposted to correct typo:
It is fair for a journalist or blogger to make accusations. It is not professionally acceptable for a governing body or a certification body to do so "out loud" without going through the proper channels.
It's called killing the category; an advertising and marketing term. For John Leonard to go out and essentially represent the USA Swimming governing bodies coaches and suggest that Chinese swimmer Ye Shiwen was doping opens the doors for other coaching associations and governing bodies to start making their accusations about swimmers like Michael Phelps and Dara Torres.
The end result is that people get sick of the sport and believe that everyone is doping. Again, it;s called killing the category. It;s the same reason why "Burger King" does not run commercial stating that "McDonald's McChicken whatevers" have chicken heads in them. (See the famous photo of a chicken head.
To attack a competitor like this opens the door to killing thee category.
John Leonard is a doofus and her has practically made an international incident that the IOC has had to address.
I find her split surprising--and frankly improbable. But so was Mary T Meagher back in the day and Janet Evans, etc. Is it possible it is tainted--of course it is possible. The same is true for other swimmers. You have to be skeptical after the last 40 years of swimming. However, she has a better pedigree than some other newly discovered swimmers--trained outside China and has competed at a high level internationally before this race--she won the 200 IM at Worlds in 2011.
But its one thing for me to sit at home in complete ignorance and marvel and question a swimmer--and its another for an official USS representative to accuse. His words have weight and significance--or at least are perceived that way. He should know that by now.
Leonard did have one interesting point--why isn't she swimming the 200 and 400 free with that sort of finishing kick. Very odd.
What about Tracey Caulkins winning the 400-free in 9-seconds in 1984? That was a "black swan event" a well
It's a minor point but one I must make: Tracey Caulkins 400 IM in '84 was not a "black swam". She'd been around since 1978 and was part of the strongest US women's team I've ever seen, before or since.
In '78, she and Sippy Woodhead took on the East Germans and State Plan 1401(?) and beat them. Tracey Caulkins, Sippy Woodhead and Mary T were amazing. Best ever.
Would Leonard be a bit nice to Ye if she was traiedn in the US instead of being trained in the down under by Wood?
YEs, I believe he would and I believe he would take credit as well
John Leonard deserves public disgrace and to be banned from all future sporting events. Hopefully, the Chinese will prosecute.
Why hasn't Phelps been tested in these days????????? And you Americans claim there is no racism involved - pitiful!
We look forward to your departure from Europe.
Read my blog, I made him a real project and disgraced him in a big way after he threaten to sue me.
I am going to release more information whee he was forced under oath to tell the world I was right as well.
Though I agree with you comments about Leonard, I do not agree with your comments about America. I do hope you change your mind. I would like to see America and China become more friendly and not let a nobody like John Leonard create tension.
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