As the coaching carousel continues to turn post-2024 Olympic Games, since September of this year, Mark Faber made the move from the Netherlands to the nation of Belgium.
51-year-old Faber left his role as head of the High-Performance Center in Amsterdam and will continue as technical director of the Flemish Swimming Federation.
The news breaks on the heels of the fact that Aussie coach Peter Bishop has taken over the top post at the Royal Dutch Swimming Federation (KNZB).
“The intention is to make Belgian swimming sexy again,” Faber said at a press conference at the Wezenberg Olympic swimming center in Antwerp in September.
“I’m still in my honeymoon period, so I can’t really conclude much yet,” Faber admitted. “The positive thing is that there is a lot of potential and that there are many medals to be won in swimming, but there is a lot of work to be done and the competition is fierce. We need time to grow.”
Faber has been the longtime coach of breaststroking aces Arno Kamminga and Tes Schouten, the former of which told SwimSwam he is currently looking for a new training home.
As we reported in November of 2023 allegations against KNZB‘s Faber asserted abuses of power, bullying and intimidation. Specific instances included him telling a young swimmer they were “too fat” and responding to criticism by clapping back at his athletes and telling them: “Know their place.”
He was cleared of any wrongdoing 5 months later.
The Belgian swimming head coach job was vacated by Fred Vergnoux when the Frenchman left France to return to his French roots at the World Aquatics Centre in Antibes.
Faber’s departure is a massive loss for Dutch swimming. He produced the only three swimmers to win medals in the pool since 2012.
Is Caspar gonna follow?