Australian swim coach Peter Bishop, most famous as the coach of Kyle Chalmers up until a few months before the Olympic Games, will leave his role as the South Australian Sports Institute to become the head coach of the Royal Dutch Swimming Federation, Swimming Australia and KNZB announced jointly on Wednesday.
The 55-year-old Bishop will pair with Patrick Pearson, who recently had his contract extended until 2028 as the head coach of the High Performance Center in Eindhoven. The pair are both expected to lead the Dutch team to Paris.
Bishop’s return also coincides with that of Jacco Verhaeren, who returned to the Netherlands in September as the Dutch federation’s ‘Performance Strategist Top Swimming.’ Verhaeren recommended Bishop and said he ‘worked excellently with Bishop’ as the team director of Swimming Australia from 2014 to 2020.
Sjors Lommerts, technical director of the KNZB, explains: “We are very pleased that we can add Peter to our coaching staff. His CV is very impressive and all the references we requested, both professionally and personally, are exclusively positive. In addition, the experience that Jacco had with him also weighed heavily of course.”
Bishop’s tenure in Australia ended on rocky footing, having his accreditation revoked in March as part of a still-murky ‘integrity case.’
The KNZB acknowledged this in their press release, saying that they are “aware of the integrity case in which Bishop was involved in Australia.’
Lommerts said “we have been extensively informed about this, both by Peter himself and Swimming Australia as well as his last employer. They have all confirmed to us in writing that this case was closed to everyone’s satisfaction during the previous Olympic cycle.”
After Bishop’s suspension, Chalmers moved to St. Andrews to train with Ash Delaney in his final preparations for the Games. Chalmers would go on to win a silver medal in the 100 free behind only Pan Zhanle‘s World Record win; Chalmers also took silver in the men’s 400 free relay and the mixed 400 medley relay.
“It’s been a privilege to make a contribution to the Dolphins’ success and I look forward to a new challenge,” Bishop said.
“His contribution across Olympic and Paralympic Games is significant and greatly valued. Kyle (Chalmers) and Matt (Cowdrey) are legends of our sport and Bish (Bishop) has been integral to shaping their careers,” Swimming Australia head coach Rohan Taylor said of Bishop’s departure.
“We wish Bish all the best as he takes the next step into a head coaching role.”
Swimming Australia concluded their press release with a definitive “will be making no further comment” statement.
Before taking over at SASI in 2017, Bishop coached at the Marion Swimming Club, where he also coached the 9-time Olympic medalist Chalmers and 23-time Paralympic medalist Chowdrey. Other big names that Bishop coached include 5-time Olympic medalist Meg Harris, 4-time Olympic medalist Madi Wilson, three-time Olympic medalist Matthew Temple, and three-time Olympic medalist Zac Incerti.
Bishop replaces former Dutch head coach Mark Faber, who likewise faced some controversy in the spring, though he was ultimately cleared of any wrongdoing by the KNZB. SwimSwam will report later today that Faber has taken a role in the Belgian Federation.
Another own goal for SwimAus.
Another loss to the Australian coaching ranks!
Seems like an exciting move for Bish, but does make we wonder how long Kyle will keep swimming for. He seems so very keen to be back in South Australia.
Anyone have any idea about what happened with Bishop?
and where Chalmers will be training going forward?
I heard he’s going to train for TST Barracudas