Otago swimming officials laughed at Duncan Laing when he told them his job was to produce an Olympic champion.
It was at an Otago Swimming Centre meeting shortly after Laing had been appointed coach at Moana Pool in 1965.
Laing was so annoyed at the response he stormed out of the meeting.
At that time, New Zealand swimmers had only won two Olympic medals.
Malcolm Champion was part of the Australasian team that won a gold medal in the 4 x 200m freestyle relay in Amsterdam in 1912, and Otago's Jean Stewart won a bronze medal in the 100m backstroke in Helsinki in 1952.
Laing's most successful pupil, double Olympic gold medallist Danyon Loader, said Laing never forgot that meeting, or the negative attitude the officials had at the time.
Laing, who died after a long illness in September 2008, loved coaching so much it never seemed like a job to him, Loader believed.
"He never saw it as a chore.
"It was a career that he loved and it was that professionalism that carried him through the time demands and the weekend work.
"The true rewards for a coach like Duncan came from seeing his swimmers improve their times."
There is pressure and a lot of emotion involved when competing at the Olympic Games.
Laing used humour to bring Loader back down to earth and help him to keep his feet firmly planted on the ground during the heady days at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996.
"Duncan excused himself from a team meeting by saying that he had to go and wash his Y-fronts.
"It was a standing joke that Duncan's wet Y-fronts would always be hung in the hotel rooms."
The international standard of New Zealand swimming has slipped since it ranked with the best in the world in Loader's time at the Atlanta Olympics 14 years ago.
Brilliant American Michael Phelps has raised the bar and it has taken time for the swimming world to respond to the higher standards.
"We have to respond with a lot more verve and a lot more emphasis and this takes a lot of effort," Loader said.
He believes New Zealand swimming has taken up that challenge by re-arranging its programme and appointing the right people to key positions.
Loader has had a close involvement with New Zealand's top swimmers over the past two years and believes they have the professionalism needed to be successful.
A feature of Laing's approach was that he never stopped learning and was always keen to talk to the top international coaches and adopt the latest trends into his training programmes.
"I believe a lot of swimming coaches need to keep learning themselves," Loader said.
Loader is back in the water this season and is competing in some of the swims in the New Zealand open water series.
"I'm not really being competitive and I don't train for them.
"But it is an opportunity for other swimmers to race me."
Loader was in Dunedin for the last two days of the New Zealand Masters Games and has not ruled out competing in them in the future.
"Who knows what the future might bring? There are 78 sports at the Games and some of them are competitive.
"But most of the emphasis is to give people the incentive to get out of the house.
"It gives people something to look forward to."
Loader lives in Wellington and is an ambassador for Sparc and has been involved in several public and speaking roles over the past two years.
He works with youth development programmes.
Danyon Loader: super fish
Age: 34
Lives: Wellington
Occupation: Ambassador for Sparc youth development programmes.
Olympic Games: 1992, silver medal 200m butterfly (1min 57.93sec); 1996, gold medals in 200m (1min 47.63sec) and 400m (3min 47.97sec) freestyle.
World championships: Silver and two bronze medals 1994.
Commonwealth Games: Gold, three silver and two bronze medals, 1990-98.
World records: Three short-course 200m butterfly in 1993 and 400m freestyle 1995.
Honours: Halberg winner 1996, decade champion 1990s, inducted into International Swimming Hall of Fame 2003.
