Swimming: Palmer pays high price for British silver

OLYMPIC GAMES

As Paul Palmer received his silver for the 400 metres freestyle in the early hours of yesterday morning he personified many things. Exhilaration, achievement and even glory. The good and bad of British sport, too.

For even as the City of Lincoln swimmer was savouring his medal, as the Union Jack was being hauled to the roof alongside the New Zealand flag of the winner Danyon Loader, he was thinking about the silver in his pocket as well as it hanging from his neck. Or rather the lack of it.

Britain shared in Palmer's pride yesterday but it had done only the bare essentials to make sure he stood on the podium in Atlanta. The 21-year- old had scrimped and saved to be able to take to the pool alongside opponents from the United States who have been generously provided for. Even his coach, Ian Turner, had given up his job for six months to get him there.

On the day the Prime Minister announced details of a national academy of sport financed by pounds 100m of National Lottery money, the chances were that lack of funding would force Palmer away from the man who has coached him from the age of four. "I don't know if I'll still be with Paul in four years time," Turner said. "That depends. I have to sit down and think about what I do for the rest of my life now."

For Turner, a teacher, the doubt is purely because of finance. "I gave up my job for six months because I knew Paul had a chance of a medal," he said. "The ASA have helped out by employing me on their Swim 2000 programme but the rest has come out of savings."

To the tune of pounds 15,000. "I don't consider I've made sacrifices," he continued. "I love the sport. I think it's worth it. What price can you put on a silver?"

The price Palmer put on it was his place in the sport. Funded by grants and his parents, he still lives at home and has to practise in a 25-metre pool, often in the company of school children who don't always respect his space. "I'm 21 and it's time I set up on my own," he said. "I'd always said that if I didn't come away with a medal then it was going to be pretty hard to get the cash to support myself. You can't combine the two at this level; it's either sport or a proper job.

"It needs the backing of the government, the ASA and the general public as well. Britain gets interested in swimming once every four years and they can't understand why we don't produce the goods. It's not once every four years we think about it, it's every day. If we haven't got the backing that the other countries have we're not competing on a level playing field."

The part Turner played in the success was exemplified by the moments just before the final. Palmer believed he would win a medal, but the pressure of being reminded that it would be Britain's first weighed down on him. "Do you want me to go?" Turner asked. "No stay," was the reply. "Please stay with me."

It proved wise. As Palmer was about to go the tactics were changed. "We were going to sit on Loader's shoulder and shoot it out over the final 100m," Turner said. "But as he left I said, 'It's got to be 1:52, 1:53 over the first 200. If they're not doing that you've got to set the pace'. He's tough. He handled it."

Almost to a point where Britain's first medal of the Centennial Games was a gold. "At 200 I was feeling so strong," Palmer said. "I hadn't gone for my legs at all. I had a quick look around and besides Danyon I couldn't really see anyone that close to me. I thought, 'Yeah, I can get a gold here'. But at the last turn I didn't get a good one and Danyon accelerated out of it. I was left for dead. I tried to get after him but it wasn't to be."

He had been two places ahead of the New Zealander at 300 metres but Loader finished in a blistering 28.96 and 28.90sec over the final two lengths to burn him off and finish in 3:47.97. Palmer was 1.03sec behind. Not that the colour of the metal seemed to affect his reaction. "It's an incredible feeling that I can't see being topped in my life," he said. "I never want to forget this. If you won the lottery you couldn't feel better than I do. It's pride. It's relief. It's sheer enjoyment.

"I'm not really surprised. I've certainly trained hard for this. I knew I was good enough to win a medal and I'd have been disappointed if I'd come away without one. Having said that the feelings I'm experiencing now is such euphoria. I'll not sleep for a week."

He will of course. There is the matter of the 1500m heats today and the possible split with Turner to sober him up, although he has seen a possible way out. "There's an Olympic size pool being built in Bath," he said, "and ideally they would employ Ian as full-time coach. I could move there and maybe a national squad be set up. That would be in a perfect world. I don't know if it'll happen."

In a less perfect world, can he continue to be a full-time swimmer? "I'm very naive," he replied. "I've never had an agent or anything like that. It's a whole new world opening up to me. I've always said that if you get an Olympic medal the money starts coming in. I've got that so I'll tell you whether you can make a living in a year's time."

As a potential gold medallist at Sydney 2000, it will be Britain's embarrassment if he cannot.