Swim stars recruited to halt sport's decline
An alarming fall in the number of swimmers dipping into pools across WA has prompted a call to the State's greats of the sport to help arrest the slide.
Olympic champion Neil Brooks has been seconded by Swimming WA as its international swimming director, headlining a cast of past stars being lured back to the pool.
New Swimming WA chief executive Darren Beazley said the number of pool members had plummeted from almost 7000 to just 4000 in a decade.
He said the sport, which this week held its annual State Championships at HBF Stadium, had lost its way and needed expert help to put it back on track.
"My goal is to make it great again because it's lost its sense of direction and its lustre and I don't understand why that is," Mr Beazley said.
"We understand where we're at and there has to be a bit of a leap of faith, but we want to reach back out to the alumni and say, 'Help me revive WA swimming'.
"I wouldn't have taken this job on if I didn't believe in it."
Mr Beazley, who has worked with the Fremantle Dockers, the WACA, elite sailing and was most recently chief executive of the USA Cricket Association, believes there has been a "disconnect" between many parts of the aquatic industry.
Other past swimmers to have rejoined Brooks poolside recently include Jennifer Reilly, Shelley Taylor-Smith, Travis Nederpelt, Todd Pearson and Jim Piper.
This week's events heralded rising stars, significantly Brianna Throssell, who carved a record-breaking spree in several events.
Broome teen Zac Incerti made big improvements, notably cutting his personal best for the 100m backstroke by seven seconds on his way to the State title.
Incerti, who moved to Perth from Broome a year ago, said he was starting to dream big about his sport.
