Olympics: Late night swimming finals 'outrageous' says Rudd
Last Updated: 08/12/14 3:47pm
England swimming head coach Jon Rudd has hit out at plans to hold late night swimming finals at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in order to maximise American television audiences.
The plans would see some finals starting as late as 10pm local time, a decision which Rudd branded as ‘outrageous'.
Although a final competition schedule is yet to be released by the International Olympic Committee, the governing body announced last Friday that a proposal to hold later races had been accepted.
"It's a really disappointing outcome,” Rudd told website swimvortex.com. “There also seems to be a lot of smoke and mirrors. IOC saying it's FINA, FINA saying it's IOC and then both saying the athletes are fine with it when they are clearly not. It's a shame.
For a lot of guys it will be the pinnacle of their careers.
Jon Rudd
"If you are asking me is it the right decision and were the swimmers consulted and their performances thought about in that decision then, no," he added.
This is not the first time the management of the swimming finals at the Olympics has faced scrutiny – at the 2008 Beijing Games athletes complained after the finals were switched to the morning in order to match prime-time viewing in the US.
The plans for Rio would see athletes having to finish in the early hours of the morning, a decision which Rudd said would cause 'serious issues'.
Rudd underlined the importance of creating the right environment for the athletes in order for them to maximise their effort and produce performances that are expected at an event of such great magnitude.
"For a lot of guys it will be the pinnacle of their careers and they don't get the right environment to maybe produce the performances you'd hope they'd produce," he said.
"Now we'll get on with it but it's a shame that that is the decision we've come to as a sport."
Rudd has since added his voice to the 'Say No to Night Swimming' campaign that is gaining momentum among competitors and coaches across the world.