Is Adelaide swimming coach Peter Bishop one of Australian sport’s best kept secrets?
DRESSED in denim shorts and a blue polo shirt, Peter Bishop almost blends in with the blue seats in the stands as he paces up and down the pool at Marion.
But the mastermind behind Kyle Chalmers’ stunning Olympic gold medal this year likes it that way.
No attention, no fuss, no ranting, no raving, just hard work and medals ... and there have been plenty of them.
When Chalmers won 100m freestyle gold in Rio in August, the man affectionately known as ‘Bish’ was half a world away, back at the SA Aquatic and Leisure Centre, watching it on TV.
He wasn’t in Beijing or London either after he had helped turn Hayden Stoeckel from a virtual unknown into a triple Olympic medallist — instead Bishop was watching from a pub in Adelaide’s eastern suburbs.
And he only went to one of Matthew Cowdrey’s three Paralympics, in Athens in 2004, despite the young star becoming the greatest Paralympian Australia has ever produced.
Under Bishop’s watch, the three swimmers have won 14 gold, 8 silver and 7 bronze medals at Olympic and Paralympic level, prompting them to declare him one of the best kept secrets in Australian sport.
“The world even,” Stoeckel says.
But now the secret is out. You can’t produce a 100m freestyle Olympic champion from a nondescript swimming base such as Adelaide and expect things to be business as usual.
Bishop’s high performance squad is in demand and the latest addition next year will be Victorian Travis Mahoney, who made the 400m IM Olympic final in Rio.
Yet the 48-year-old father of three is adamant it’s not about him.
“I know we all work together as a team but the reality is it’s the athlete who has to stand up on the day and get the performance done,” he told The Advertiser this week.
“We all sacrifice but they are certainly the ones who have to perform under the pressure and I think they should get the majority of the recognition.”
At training on Monday morning, Bishop had eight swimmers in the water, while four lanes across some more seniors were doing water aerobics.
On the pool deck was a giant TV screen showing vision from underwater cameras of the swimmers’ stroke technique and Bishop had a stopwatch permanently wrapped around his shoulders.
This week, Queensland sent a coach to watch Bishop’s squad to find out what they’re doing.
“One of the strengths of Swimming Australia is that we all share (information),” Bishop said.
“I’ve learnt a lot from other coaches over the years and the ability to share ideas on what we’re finding that’s working is really important. It’s good for the whole country.”
What he’s particularly proud of is the $100m facility the squad now trains out of, which he says is crucial to success.
“There are certainly people who now know they can reach their potential in this state, which was hard to do previously, but certainly we’ve got all the ingredients here now,” he said.
Bishop has spent a lifetime in and around the pool. He swam as a kid and his parents were heavily involved in the sport in Adelaide.
“I was a good swimmer without being a great swimmer,” Bishop said.
“I enjoy watching them swim but they probably feel like everyone is watching them,” he said.
It was while he was studying physiotherapy he turned to swim teaching. That led to taking junior squads with the Norwood Swimming Club and when the head coach left in the early 1990s, Bishop took over and he’s been at it ever since.
“It’s the energy you get from the kids as well,” he said.
“You put out this energy trying to get kids to reach their potential and initially that might be getting them to win medals at state (level).
“And then they go on to win medals at nationals, make Australian junior teams, and you go on that journey with them, you learn a lot over the years.”
On a typical day Bishop is out of bed just after 5am and at the pool by 6.30am. Swimmers dive in by 7am and are in the water for two hours, followed by stretching and recovery in a hot/cold spa.
He spends the middle of the day mostly in meetings and doing administration before the swimmers are back at the pool by 3.30pm.
“Generally that night session is a bit more intense so we’re asking the guys to step up and have a good crack at that,” he said.
Then it’s more cool down, stretching, some nights they’ll do yoga or RPM bike work and that’s on top of gym 2-3 times a week.”
He’s home around 7pm, which makes this an all-consuming job. Burnout is common in swimmers who start young and coaches can be no different, which is why Bishop says it’s important to find a good work/life balance.
“We always try to book in a family holiday where we just get out of the state or go overseas and just have some time together.”
He is also big on community involvement and his swimmers volunteer with the Salvation Army and have swum with orphans while on a training camp in Phuket.
“Our guys have a very privileged life so as much as we can we try to give back through there,” Bishop said.
Of his three best-known swimmers, Bishop says Cowdrey was arguably the most competitive he ever had.
“He hated to lose and he would race anyone — when he was in the training pool whether they had a disability or not, he didn’t care and that was one of his strengths.”
He described Stoeckel as a great character who was able to get the best out of himself and Chalmers — well, what can you say?
A year before Rio, they sat down and decided on a time they believed Chalmers could swim in Rio if he really challenged himself.
“We spoke about 47.5 and decided what we needed to do to swim that race,” Bishop said.
They spoke about times, not medals, but what they didn’t know was that on August 10, a PB of 47.58 secs would be good enough for gold.
“When you’re at the meet, you’re watching everything. I’m getting stroke rates, I’m seeing how he’s swimming, but on TV you don’t get to see the race as well,” Bishop said.
“When I saw his 50m split it was around the goal time we wanted and probably about 25m to go was when I thought ‘shit, he could win this’.”
Part of Bishop wished he was there in Rio but part of him was happy to be able to share the moment with his family.
“They know what you go through on a daily basis and everyone has to sacrifice in the family, so it was really great to share it with them,” he said.
When Chalmers returned from Rio, there was speculation he may head north to Queensland to continue his career.
But the 18-year-old said it was never going to happen.
“I couldn’t see myself swimming anywhere else. There is no point in changing up what’s working,” Chalmers said.
“Obviously me and Bish have an amazing working relationship; he’s definitely helped me get to that next level.”
Bishop expects the squad to get bigger not smaller after Chalmers helped put it on the world map.
“We’ve got a really good facility and a great program happening, and we’ve got people who will start migrating to our program, which is something that Kyle is certainly very passionate about,” he said.
There’s something in the water at Marion and the secret is definitely out.
IN THEIR OWN WORDS
Kyle Chalmers
Olympics: 2016 Rio
1 gold, 2 bronze
Bishop saw great potential in Chalmers and was crucial in his move from Port Lincoln to Adelaide at the age of 12. Six years later they won Olympic gold.
“He’s not only a coach but a guy that is a good mate in a way,” Chalmers said.
We talk about footy, soccer, cricket, basketball, it just takes your mind off swimming which I find really helpful and he’s such a relaxed guy.
“Before my Olympic final in Rio I was about to have dinner in the dining hall and I got a text message from Bish and it was a funny photo — I can’t remember what it was now — but I remember thinking ‘I’m going to an Olympic final here and there’d be no other coach who would be that relaxed about it’ and I know that’s what he would have been trying to do for me.
“Before Rio we sat down and set the goal of 47.5 which for me seemed pretty unachievable, I knew it would be massive to go from 48.4 to 47.5 in a year but every session we went into he made sure I was doing everything I could to make that time.
“And once I stood up I had that belief in myself I could do it.
“I look at Rio and I’m a swimmer who is representing his (Bishop’s) hard work, he puts in so much more hard work than me. He’s there seven plus hours a day, six days a week, constantly thinking about how he can improve.
“I want to stay with him as long as I can. I couldn’t see myself swimming anywhere else. There is no point in changing up what’s working.”
Matthew Cowdrey
Paralympics: 2004 Athens; 2008 Beijing; 2012 London
13 gold, 7 silver, 3 bronze
Cowdrey joined Bishop’s Norwood squad when he was 11 and, apart from two years with the AIS in Canberra, continued to train with him until his retirement.
“In a sport and industry that’s full of people who are self-promoters, he’s not one of those,” Cowdrey said.
“He gets the job done and is dedicated not just to the performance but the person as well.
“He’s quite selfless in the way he goes about his work and is there to guide you as a person.
“I don’t know too many coaches that would be willing to let one of their athletes move on, that was one reason I did move to AIS for couple of years, I felt I needed a new stimulus and he pushed that for me.
“But I knew the environment I wanted to be in the lead up to London and that was back here with Bish.
“He’s never short of emotion and that’s a good thing; he’s happy to shed a tear in good times and bad and that’s good for building the sort of relationships you need at that sort of level.”
Hayden Stoeckel
Olympics: 2008 Beijing; 2012 London
1 silver, 2 bronze
Stoeckel moved from Kingsliff to Adelaide to train under Bishop one year before the 2008 Olympics and agreed the coach was one of Australian sport’s best-kept secrets.
“Even the world,” Stoeckel said.
“If I hadn’t of made the move I wouldn’t have made an Olympics.
“I was benchmark around No. 3 in Australia at the time and he took me to that next level, to No. 1 in Australia and an Olympic bronze medal.
“The thing with swimming is that with talent, any coach can get you in the top five in Australia but you need a great coach to go to the next level.
“He’s a coach and also a mate and you don’t get many people who can be both.
“And now with Kyle’s success there will be a lot more international level swimmers wanting to be trained by him.
“When I got the bronze (in 2008) there was a bit of interest from others and he purely left it up to me to decide if I wanted training partners.
“I wanted Bish all to myself so I said ‘no’ but even now I wouldn’t be surprised if a club from Queensland tried to poach him.”
reece.homfray@news.com.au