Reeling off a litany of woes, Mid-Island Striders coaching triumvirate - Bill Euler, Renalda Swan and Tony Bean - yesterday called on national athletics coach Gerry Swan to step down and stop destroying the sport.

The trio charged that the long-standing coaching chief has driven several promising athletes away from representing their country - and in some cases out of athletics altogether - and that Swan is dictatorial and had failed in his duties, including that of furthering athletes' athletically and academically by helping them secure scholarships.

Noting that three athletes who competed here for Bermuda in last year's Carifta Games - Deanne Lightbourne, Tristan Francis and Lovintz Tota - have turned their backs on the national programme and joined Striders, Euler stated that athletics in the critical high-school division is continually dwindling because of Swan and the Bermuda Track and Field Association (BTFA).

“I've been living here six years and the level (of track and field) is way below standard. Hardly any competitors show up at track meets. Come to any meet and you see three or four people in a race and they are all different ages, ranging from 14 to 29. What kind of competition is that?” said Euler, terming the high-school athletics championships “an embarrassment”.

“Even the National Championships - barely 50 people show up and that's gone downhill in the time I've been here.

“The older age groups is where the focus needs to be and we don't see that. There's too much talent going to waste. We have a lot of athletes with potential who are being turned off.”

Euler and his colleagues - who have been in a long-running battle with the BTFA - insist the answer is to get a new national coach who is amenable to working with other coaches and who “cares about athletes” rather than “threatening” them with exclusion from national selection if they don't train with him exclusively.

“He doesn't get along with athletes or coaches very well. Most of the athletes who train with him have told us it's because he says he is the only one who can take them to Carifta or CAC or Pan-Ams,” continued Euler.

“He scares them into staying with the national programme. They really can't do anything without talking to him.

“Some who have left don't even want to come up to the track when he is around. They just don't want to be around him anymore. So we can't even get them to train with us.”

As they did last year, the Striders hierarchy expressed dismay over the fact that the Island will be without the services of many top athletes at Carifta because they have opted not to train with Swan.

They also questioned how Swan's performance is judged and whether there are no grounds for his dismissal.

“There's no job description for national coach. There's supposed to be one but the BTFA have never produced one so none of the affiliates know what his job description is. We feel that like any other coach, if he is not producing, he must go,” stated Euler pointedly.

Bean was equally candid.

“Gerry Swan is holding track and field back in Bermuda. Throughout the years, he has not produced many quality athletes. He has been in the position since the early 1990s and has only produced three or four top athletes and that's been in field events. He has not been doing his job,” declared Bean.

Renalda Swan applauded his non-related namesake as “a good field-event coach” responsible for jumpers like Brian Wellman, Nicky Saunders and Devon Bean.

“However, if you look at his record, he has never coached any top-class sprinters. He will say he has but that's not true. Any top-class sprinters were developed by former coach Clive Longe or when they were away in college,” said Renalda.

Bean disclosed that Striders approached Swan to see “if we could work things out” but to no avail.

“We have tried to work with him, suggesting that we could concentrate on the sprinters but he has denied us that opportunity.”

As an indication of the poor state of Bermudian athletics, Euler noted that at the last two Olympics the Island only had one athletics representative, adding this should not be allowed to continue when “right now we have a pool of about 15 athletes who can be ready for the 2008 Olympics if they are trained properly”.

Renalda also challenged Swan to list any scholarships he has gotten for athletes in recent times.

“Since Clive Long died the number of track scholarships we have gotten has dwindled and since Gerry has been national coach, the number is practically non-existent. In the last few years he has not gotten a scholarship for anyone,' said Renalda.

“He can't take credit for Richard Walcott because Bermuda Pacers got Walcott his scholarship. In regard to Gabriel Wilkinson, Xavier James got him his scholarship, and Andrea Jackson met the coach from Rice University and arranged a scholarship for herself.

“Gerry has not done anything to further these kids' education and as a former teacher that's reprehensible.”

Striders, who have received no response to their latest application for BTFA membership last November, stated they are constantly besieged with concerns about Swan.

“A lot of the general public is aware of this situation. People come to me on the street and say ‘What are you guys doing to get rid of him?' but until they let us in there's nothing we can do,” said Renalda.

“People say ‘Oh yes, track and field is at its lowest. That guy has got to go. What, is he there for life?',” added Euler.

On a related matter, he queried why Judy Simmons - currently in France for the IAAF World Cross-Country Championships - is still BTFA president. Euler said the national governing body's annual general meeting should have been held last October and Simmons should have stepped down as she had exhausted the maximum term in the top spot.

Swan, who was approached during a coaching session yesterday, declined discussing any of these issues.

Meanwhile, Tristan Francis - who has switched to the 200 and 400 metres from the 100 and 200 - explained that he left the national programme because he found Striders “more suitable” and that he was “getting injured more” under Swan's tutelage.

Despite missing out on events like the Carifta Games, the 16-year-old said Striders attend many more meets, thereby exposing their members to more opportunities.