BY SCOTT
HADDOW
In late September, the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC)
announced former two-time Olympic gold medallist and Sudbury
native Alex Baumann had been lured back to Canada to be the
executive director of their Road to Excellence program.
The program is designed to help Canada achieve ultimate success
at future Olympic and Paralympic Games' events.
Baumann won two gold medals at the 1984 Olympic Summer Games in swimming. Baumann had been in Australia since 1991, where he had been, among other titles, executive director of the Queensland Academy of Sport.
Baumann helped Australia earn plenty of international success,
especially in swimming, as the country placed fourth overall at
the 2000 and 2004 Summer games. He's being brought home as
Canada's "White Knight," and here, Baumann shares his own
thoughts about the new job, coming home, and how Sudbury might
play into the Road to Excellence program.
Coming home in this capacity, how does it feel?
It feels great. I'm really looking forward to it. Obviously it
will be a challenging job. There's a lot of support there and
the whole attitude towards high performance sport has changed
and the culture has changed. There's more of a focus on
excellence, but there's a long road to travel first. I will be
based in Ottawa, but I will be getting back to Sudbury
more.
What are you looking to establish and accomplish in time?
My perspective is to establish a system capable of producing
quality results long term. It's not a quick fix. It will depend
on a lot of things...trying to implement the Road to Excellence
program. We have to make sure there's high quality coaching and
technical leadership in Canada.
What you've done in Australia, how can it help you here in Canada?
I think one of the advantages here in Australia is they have a
co-ordinated and integrated approach...that's what we would be
looking at in Canada. Where all the stakeholders...are on the
same page dedicated to the same goal. That's never easy. The
resources have to be used most efficiently to produce podium
results.
From what you've seen, what are your thoughts on the state of athletics at the Olympic level in Canada?
On the winter side...there's incredible movement. The results
from Torino 2006 were a confidence booster for our athletes.
Summer side, it isn't there. There's a lot of potential and
good performances. At this point and time there's no
co-ordinated or integrated system for summer sports. I'm hoping
to change that. The other thing is managing expectations. It
will not be an overnight change. I look at Australia as an
example. They had a poor performance in 1976. They started to
implement their system by about 1980 or 1981. They didn't see
results until 1992 and 1996.
I'm hoping it doesn't take that long for Canada, but it will take time.
What's your motivation to leave Australia to do this?
A couple of things...the main thing is it's a challenge. Even
more important, it is the change I've felt when I talked to a
number of people in June...I do believe Canadians are changing
and there's good leadership intact. I do believe I can make an
impact. The structure is there. As far as the right people in
the right positions...we still have to work on that.
There is an attitude change and focus on excellence that motivates me.
What defines our athletes?
That's a difficult question. I do believe we've had kind of a
checkered past in terms of athlete performance in a number of
sports. Certainly 2000 and 2004...the performances weren't
great, but there were some great individual results. What we're
looking at is making sure we give every chance for athletes to
succeed. We also have to prioritize and we can't be everything
to everyone. There's some lost confidence on the summer side in
high performance sport.
The Olympics are a big business. Do you feel pressure to be Canada's "white knight?"
We will have to manage expectations. One person alone will not
make the program successful. I'm on board. It will take a
consorted effort between everyone to ensure we get there. When
Australia got the Olympics for 2000 in 1993, it really united
the country toward a common goal and that was to finish fifth.
Ultimately Australia came fourth. In 2010, hopefully the games
will be a stimulus for the summer sports and hopeful we can
leverage some extra support.
We have to maximize efficiency with our resources. We're not there yet, but we will be. A number of things have to happen. The Road to Excellence program is quite robust.
What can athletes do to help out the cause?
They need to be hungry to really want it. We will do our best
to help them get there, but there's no substitute for hard
work. People in Australia are working extremely hard to have
success. There are no short cuts for success in high
performance sport. It will be critical to have the right
coaches in the programs to move forward.
Could Sudbury play a role in preparing athletes with the facilities here?
I think so. Look at the example of swimming back in the 70s and
80s...Canada probably had the number one club structure in the
world. As you know, some of the smaller clubs, such as
Laurentian with myself and coach Jeno Tihanyi, enjoyed success.
It really will be a consorted effort. Athletes will come from
all over the country. Facilities are critical to success.
That's one area where Canada has fallen behind, particularly in
Ontario. In the end athletes need good facilities to train to
succeed.
