Eventually when they get to a certain level with the NCCP, only certain coaches are actually qualified. You always have to be graded, sort of, by another coach; you're always evaluated. To obtain a level 3 or level 4, you're going to be evaluated by a level 4 coach, let's say. Unfortunately, in Canada there aren't that many level 4 coaches, maybe five or ten. There's quite a good number of level 3 coaches, but the level 4s are few and far between. We have one close by at the Dollard pool. He's been there for maybe 30 years or so now.
Eventually they have no choice but to mentor with a well-recognized and well-experienced coach. To do it earlier, I don't know.... What I've always found pretty interesting is a sort of coach swap, interclub. You swap coaches for a week or two weeks. You go to see what another club is doing and what works really well, or what is different and what you've never seen or tried before. I think it helps a lot.
Whether it's right or wrong, at least it sort of raises an eyebrow to it and opens up the idea that maybe this could work. It's something that we look at, especially in regard to the Ontario clubs, because we're always in a constant battle: Okay, we went down to Ontario and we got our butts kicked pretty well, so what happened? Are they really developing swimmers that are so much better than we are, or do they just have a bigger pool of kids to pick from that—