Swim Star Parts With Coach
By Kang Seung-woo
Staff Reporter
World gold medallist Park Tae-hwan will have to wait for his third coach to guide him at the 2008 Beijing Olympics with the Games around the corner, as he parted with current coach Park Seok-ki due to internal troubles.
His sponsoring company, Speedo, announced Thursday that the Korean swimmer's 12-month spell with coach Park is done.
``Park Tae-hwan will not be coached by coach Park anymore,'' Speedo said. ``It is a pity that this kind of disgraceful thing happened with two days remaining prior to Park's training in Australia.''
Park's weight trainer and physical therapist will also be replaced.
``Changing coaches is expected to refresh Park, and we will search for a coach, who is wise to the flow of world swimming,'' Park In-ho, the swimmer's father, said.
With the breakup, the 18-year-old will train under Australian Tony Shaw during a five-week drill in Sydney. After that, he will hire a new coach.
It is the second time for Park to change his coach this year. In January, when Park decided to train with coach Park outside the Korea Sports Center in Taeneung, he split with former coach Roh Min-sang, who had taught him for 10 years.
``There were some feuds on the team,'' Speedo said. ``The coaching staffs demanded a raise, but we could not meet it. As we thought the Australia training would not process well, we have decided to look for a new coach.''
However, coach Park had a different opinion.
``Speedo and Park's parents have meddled in training Park along with the low salary,'' said the coach, who helped Park win gold medals at many world events, including the World Championships in Melbourne, Australia, in March. ``As I was also opposed to selecting a foreign coach in the training in Sydney, I told them to change the plan.''
Irrespective of the friction, Park will fly to Australia Saturday with two training mates, angling to become South Korea's first gold medal winner in swimming at the Olympics.
According to the sponsor, Park's new team will be made by January.