Outsports Store Sports apparel, jockstraps, underwear, NFL jerseys, and books and videos for gay athletes.   Baseball Basketball NFL College F'ball Gay Games Tennis Women's Sports More   Clubhouse Discussion Board Gumby's Athlete Registry   Local Events Local Groups Local News   Community Outreach Featured Articles From The Wire Making A Difference Out Athletes Regular Columnists Jock Talk Week In Review   Locker Rooms Picture This   About Outsports Entertainment Gay Sports News Olympics Outsports in the Media   E-mail Outsports.com jock cup jockstrap underwear gay gay sports gay jocks gay pride			Patricia Nell Warren Interviews Glamourhead swim coach By Patricia Nell Warren Some months before the Gay Games, I was emailing with coach Lawrie Fabian of the Glamourhead Sharks Swim Team and became intrigued by the picture he painted, of the intense group spirit that evidently drives members of his relatively new Australian team. When the Games ended, these hardworking funloving Aussies had racked up an impressive number of medals and personal bests. I wanted to know more about the ingredients of their success, so interviewed their coach by email -- just before Lawrie set off on a well-earned post-Games vacation trip to the U.S.A. PNW: Please tell me a little history of the Glamourhead Sharks Swim Team. LF: The Glamourhead Sharks were formed in February 2001 after I was approached to coach some swimmers for the Sydney Games. We started with 7 at the first swim training sessions and had 1 per week. Word spread fairly quickly and within a couple of months we were averaging 25 swimmers per training session and had increased our sessions to two times per week, eventually organising 4 sessions per week. We ended up sending a team of 65 swimmers to Sydney being the 5th largest individual swim team competing. PNW: What's your personal swimming history? And how long have you been with the team? LF: I had been a competitve swimmer throughout my teenage years, competing at national level. I started swim training when I was 10 and continued until I was about 18. I went on to become a physical education teacher and started coaching rather than competing realizing I was never going to set the swim world on fire, but always remain an above average competitor. I still compete with the squad at MAsters events. PNW: How has your team achieved its spirit, and its outstanding performance at the Gay Games? LF: I became the Coach and President of the swim team when we realized that most of the members were looking for more than just the Sydney experience, so we formalised the Team, in August 2001, to become part of Aussie Masters Swim Association. This ensured that we could compete as a Team at all MAsters events. I wanted the squad to experience the fun of competition and thus engender a spirit of belonging within a team. We set the structure of the Team so that as many members took ownership of the direction of the squad. We organised an inaugural Awards Dinner twelve months after starting and invited a well known Australian swimmer to be our patron. She has fulfilled that role with great enthusiasm and support for us. Most nights after training we have a team dinner somewhere and sometimes the women organise a girls' lane dinner. I felt it would be valuable to offer the squad the opportunity to build a team spirit and thus we designed our own bathers, sweaters , caps etc. I wanted us to create a history early on and put in place events that would help create milestones and give us longevity. I also introduced the concept of setting personal goals for each swimmer. This helped myself and our co-coach, Ross, to better understand the individual needs for the squad. Some were quite serious about their swimming, others wanted to get fit and do it in a safe and friendly environment. It will be crucial for our continued success to meet the needs of the members. PNW: Looking back, how do you see the Sydney Games as an athletic event? LF: Most of the squad would have seen Sydney as an athletic event. They were quite serious about doing pb's and we ended up with 85% of the squad doing pb's during the Games. Of course the overwhelming spirit of the Games was to have fun and compete in an absolutely unique environment. PNW: Looking ahead to Montreal, are there any changes or improvements that you or your team would like to see in the Games? LF: There would be few, if any improvements for Montreal. The swim meet was held under FINA rules and conducted by Aussie MAsters and thus was a highly professional event, as swimming is highly regarded in Australia. I did hear that some of the other sports were not so fortunate in the professional manner in which they were conducted. The closing ceremony was a major disappointment to all who attended it. Copyright (c) 2002 by Patricia Nell Warren. All rights reserved.