Sports

From Olympic Coach & Glory to Greater Things

“OK Lawrie, let’s do it.  Here’s the plan and some of these things will need to be done in parallel. First, I want you to write down chapter by chapter the essential steps of your “Learn to Swim” process beginning with the babies and your advice on early water conditioning. Then I will turn it into a book.

At the same time I’ll put together a  plan to launch your new career nationally on Channel 7. The good news from my meeting with John Miller is that they are prepared to pay you for it. It means valuable free advance publicity for your water safety plans and promotion of your corporate speaking career.

I said. “Lawrie take a look at this document. It is a broad outline of a contract offer from Channel 7 for your perusal.  It provides Executive Producer rights including content control for you. That means you have the final say”.

A few days later Lawrie signed the contract with Channel 7 to make the“ World Around Us” documentary. Just the lift off we needed.

As the documentary was being produced the book I was working on was coming together. I called it “Sink or Swim” due to the title’s main letters bearing a relationship to the emergency distress signal, SOS. Lawrie approved of the name.

A past pupil of Lawrie’s,the former 400/800/1500 metre world record holder Tracey Wickham (some of whose world records stood for 10  years) agreed to appear on the book’s front cover with Lawrie, her baby daughter Hannah and be photographed in Lawrie’s pool.

The back cover was to feature Duncan Armstrong victorious at the Olympics. When I phoned Olympic legend Dawn Fraser in Sydney she readily agreed to lend her name to the book and duly signed the prepared foreword when Lawrie and I met her a few weeks later at an Olympic Dream sponsorship luncheon in Melbourne.

Note: Dawn Fraser of Australia is still the only woman in Olympic history to have won 3 consecutive Olympic Gold Medals for the 100 metre freestyle.1956 Melbourne / 1960 Rome / 1964 Tokyo.
 
In the meantime I managed to sell the book’s pre- launch rights to “The New Idea” a top selling national women’s magazine. New Idea flew their number one photographer “Bulldog” Drummond up from Sydney to take high quality photos to use in a six page feature article on Lawrie and his new book prior to its launch. My deal with New Idea’s Editor, Dulcie Bowling included free and exclusive use of any or all of the 82 photos taken by “Bulldog” for use in Lawrie’s book. Acknowledgment of New Idea’s photographic contribution to “Sink or Swim” was the only condition this terrific lady placed on our use of the magazine’s photos.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           Dulcie knew the purpose of this book was not about making money for Lawrie and she understood the importance of the messages it contained. She said, “It’s about time the subject of kids and water safety was given the publicity it deserves”.  New Idea wanted to help. Things were starting to happen!                                                                                                         
“Boolarong Press” was chosen as the book ‘s publisher. Boolarong’s owner Lester Padman OBE, agreed to personally take charge of production.

By this stage I had designed and written a marketing brochure to be sent to the Chief Executive Officers of Australia’s top 600 companies. It featured a replica of a Seoul Olympic gold medal on the front; complete with the medal’s multicoloured five continent ribbon.

My rationale was that most people had neither seen, nor touched an Olympic gold medal. Nor would they during their entire lifetime. On that basis alone I felt the brochure had some chance of making it past the personal assistant level, to a corporate speakers file for future consideration, or at least be shown to the CEO. The brochure and its message needed to be eye catching to avoid the fate of so many expensive brochures. The dreaded, WPB.

I needed to borrow Duncan Armstrong’s Olympic gold medal for the project. You can imagine how hard it was for me to ask him for that big favour even though it was to help the coach he idolised.  Duncan didn’t even have to think twice, “Sure mate, great idea,” he said with a big grin. I thought, “What a great attitude”.

The brochure was headlined “A Gilt Edged Guarantee for Convention Success.” A “Southern Cross” array of stars was featured inside with the heading: “Lawrence of Australia.” In the opening paragraph I described Lawrie as I saw him working in the pool on my first visit. An impression later supported by his former pupils.

It read:

“Yes there is something special about Lawrie Lawrence, an indefinable quality which sets him apart, a quality of the human spirit which embodies trust, and motivates those around him to give of their very best.”- etc.

His corporate speaking platform was designed to draw the parallels between business success and high sporting achievement. I felt this gave him sufficient latitude to relate his stories and those of other achievers to motivate audiences.

I also suggested he collect and record athletes’ stories ( with their knowledge and permission) as material for a future book to be titled “Lawrence of Australia.” A name actually chosen for its potential to be remembered by association with the famous name Lawrence of Arabia. As a bonus it would also identify him when speaking overseas, if he ever reached those dizzy heights in the future. And he did.

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