Thanks Coach! Matthew Helm to Wang Tong Xiang
Issue: Volume 27 Number 3
At the 2004 Athens Olympic, Mathew Helm won a silver medal for the Men’s 10m Platform and a bronze medal with Robert Newbery for the 10m Platform Synchronised. Sharon talked to Mathew before he went to the Olympics.
If you were to stand poolside while diver Mathew Helm trains, you would be unlikely to hear his coach utter whoops of delight, clap loudly or even nod approvingly when the 2003 World Championship gold and silver medallist executes an exceptional dive. In fact, when Helm surfaces from a dive, he is most likely to see his Chinese coach Wang Tong Xiang, shaking his head disapprovingly or saying, ‘Little more try’.
But Helm wouldn’t have it any other way.
‘Mr Wang has instilled in me a principle of not settling for anything less than performing better every time I dive,’ Helm says. ‘He believes there is no such thing as a perfect dive. Nothing is ever right. There is always something that can be improved and he wants me to work harder and try harder on each dive.’
For many athletes this may cause stress, frustration and resentment, but not Helm. ‘I love that about Mr Wang. He’s helped me to know what it feels like to be up on that dais in first place. The time I’ve spent with him is what guided me to where I am in diving. I’m enjoying it or I wouldn’t be here. If I was going to crack up I would have done that a long time ago.’
Wang had already been coaching at the Australian Institute of Sport diving program in Brisbane for eight years when Helm joined in 1996, firstly training under coach Salvador Sobrino who left the program less than a year later. Helm then learned that Wang was interested in taking him on as an athlete.
In considering the opportunity, Helm knew that Chinese athletes dominate a sport defined by its grace, power and athleticism. He also knew that Wang had been Assistant Head Coach at the Chinese Sports Centre in China and had coached legendary women’s diver Gao Min.
And he knew that the Chinese had a unique approach to coaching.
Helm’s previous long-term partnership with a diving coach was based on a strong friendship forged when, as a 12-year-old, he was discovered by Hunter United Diving Academy Coach Eric Brooker while ‘mucking around’ at a local pool. Helm, who had formerly been an elite-level gymnast until irreversible damage from an elbow injury hampered his gymnastics career, had a strong aerial ability that caught Brooker’s eye.
Together, the two went on to relative success at National Junior Championships and World Junior Championships from 1992 until 1995, when Helm was offered the Australian Institute of Sport scholarship and moved to Brisbane. The change was more than just geographic. ‘My whole outlook changed. The intensity increased and expectations rose,’ Helm says.
‘When I started working with Mr Wang, I quickly learned the differences between Chinese and Australian culture. Mr Wang had this philosophy that no matter how well you do, you can always do better. That was pretty tough to take in as a 16-year-old.
For him, training is strictly business and that’s the way I also approach my diving now.’
Helm says that he seldom talks to his coach about personal problems or issues. ‘There’s always someone else around I can go to for help, but I’ve reached a stage in my life where I can accept the things that I’ve been through as an athlete. It’s not that Mr Wang doesn’t care, it’s that he expects you to train and perform at a certain level, no matter what’s going on around you.’
He admits that this has sometimes caused ‘blow ups’ between the two. ‘If I have a technical problem that I can’t fix, I get frustrated from trying so hard and wanting to show him that I can do more. He also gets frustrated and that can lead to heated words, but we both want what’s right and that’s what it comes down to at the end of the day.’
At the 2003 World Diving Championships in Barcelona, Helm finished second on the 10m platform and picked up a gold medal in the 10m platform synchronised event with fellow diver Robert Newbury. It was a watershed moment in more ways than one. ‘Mr Wang smiled and congratulated me and we shook hands,’ Helm recalls. ‘He takes these things very seriously and is 100 per cent focused all the time, but the results are coming through.’
In recent years, Helm’s training has also been influenced by the Australian Institute of Sport Diving program’s Head Coach, Hui Tong. Hui, who has previously coached in Canada, has encouraged Helm to soften his approach.
‘Hui came along three or four years after Mr Wang and was saying to me, “Give yourself a bit more credit … look at the next dive. Don’t get stressed about not nailing a dive, look ahead”. ’
Far from this being contrary to Wang’s instruction, it helped prevent Helm focusing on the past and thinking about what could happen. 'It helped to make me calmer, I think. Hui is willing to make a few changes, to be a little more flexible, to react to things and learn as we learn. After I won silver at Barcelona last year, he pulled out a cigar and started to smoke … he’s a funny man.'
Helm himself has also turned his hand to coaching, and has achieved his Level 1 accreditation. ‘I love the sport, I’m passionate about it and I’ve learned so much from these coaches technically and emotionally that I want to pass that on to others.’
In between his own diving commitments and his study as a personal trainer, Helm coaches squad divers between the ages of five and 30 at Brisbane’s Chandler Centre and says his personal coaching style is a lot like that of Wang’s.
‘I have to temper that a little, because of the level my divers are at. I have to learn not to expect too much from them. I suppose most of [my style] is because of Mr Wang. He has just impacted on so many levels of my life. He has taught me so much that I will continue to use to better myself as a person, as a coach and in life and I am very grateful for that.’
