On Ignorance Screams While Wisdom Listens

The Great Coaches: Leadership & Life

Our Great Coach on this episode is Bill Sweetenham.

Bill is an Australian swimming coach, who first started training athletes in the 1970’s in the rural Australian town of Mount Isa. His coaching career progressed quickly and he coached at his first Olympian in 1976. His swimmers have delivered 27 Olympic and World Championship medals and have broken 9 world records.

I first interviewed Bill in early 2022, and the discussion was a complete masterclass. He talked about meeting Nelson Mandela and the Great Boxing coach, Angelo Dundee. As well as sharing insights from his long and successful career. We stayed in contact after that interview, and Bill would occasionally add me to emails that he sent to friends containing his observations on sport and life. There was one particularly special one he shared which was a book he had written for his grandchildren after visiting Africa.

I recently had the opportunity to visit the part of Australia where Bill lives and I asked him if he would be open to another interview, where we could discuss some of the ideas he had shared in those emails with me. Todays podcast is that conversation recorded in June 2024. We cover mental health, team collaboration and the value of volunteering. Bill was very open and introspective as he was in the throws of finishing a book called ignorance screams whilst wisdom listens. It was agreat experience for me to spend this time with Bill and I hope you enjoy the interview as much as I did,

If you would like to send us any feedback or if you know a great coach, who has a unique story to share, then we would love to hear from you, please contact us at [email protected] or contact us through our website thegreatcoachespodcast.com

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