The day I asked Sharron Davies about body shaving!

AS a teenager I used to have a major crush on Sharron Davies. I remember seeing a photograph of her plastered across the front page of the Daily Express coming home for the Olympic Games in Montreal aged just 13 - I'm only four months younger than Shazza - and thinking phworrr!

Our paths eventually crossed when Sharron was swimming for Portsmouth Northsea in the 1990s and I was working as a sports reporter for The News. 

These were halcyon days for swimming in Portsmouth under coach Chris Nesbit; national champions and British record holders aplenty, a time when I would spend two or three weekends a year covering major swimming events at the Ponds Forge arena in Sheffield and got to know Sharron pretty well.

I remember interviewing Sharron at her flat in Old Portsmouth, sat on the floor, cradling a cup of tea to chat to this lovely lady about her swimming, which was reaching its autumn years though she was still swimming up to 80km a week in heavy training.

This could easily have been a patsy, fawning interview, yet I wanted to get to the heart of the swimming for what was a major set-piece story. 

We talked about those gruelling 5.30am training sessions, what she thought about in the pool during those sessions, the injuries, her diet, the stresses and strains of swimming, the sacrifices she had made, how she motivated herself, about her father Terry who had coached her at Tavistock College and also her thoughts on life after swimming.

I admire and respect enormously what Sharron had achieved - two Commonwealth Games' gold medals, an Olympic silver medal and an MBE in 1993. The interview went well and I reckon the piece I wrote was well up to the mark. 

At that interview, we even talked about shaving and tapering before a major meet - it's the first and only time I've asked someone in an interview about shaving. 

Mindful that the interview time was limited, I made sure my questions counted. It's something I have never shied away from - never be afraid to ask the difficult or even awkward question. There's no such thing as a stupid question, just a stupidly asked question.

For many years now, Sharron has been asking the questions for BBC television instead of answering them and I have to admit, she don't impress me much.

Her poolside performance at the Aquatics Centre this week has been lame. It has been a masterclass in patsy and fawning interviewing. Sadly, it has been embarrassing to watch Sharron in action, as her questions lack any depth or substance. 

Agreed, Sharron is catching the swimmers soon after they have stepped out of the pool, their bodies exhausted, their heads a mixture of emotions when any analysis would be off the cuff. But that is no excuse for lame interviews which offer very little value. The questioning can still be challenging, not only pressing for emotions, but explanation and detail.

Sadly, Sharron's presence at the Aquatic Centre is based on her swimming ability, technical knowledge and what she has achieved in the pool, less on her journalistic ability. And was it ever thus. Television now has a preponderance of ex-professional sportsmen and women anchoring their TV coverage, as if their past deeds and inside knowledge on the game adds credibility to the coverage.

In truth, some do well in crossing the rubicon. Mike Atherton in cricket and Eddie Butler in rugby are supreme and gifted broadcasters. But who can forget the pitiful Olympic gold medal hurdler Sally Gunnell who earned around £60,000 a year standing trackside to interview athletes? She was roundly criticised for her interview techniques which led one critic to suggest Gunnell had the questioning style of an Essex beagle!

Interview techniques are a matter of taste to the listener, but a matter of technique to journalists. I've just finished writing an exam paper for trainee sports journalists to sit this autumn where interview techniques are being tested by the National Council for the Training of Journalists, and rightly so. There's a standard, there's an expectation. The BBC's Phil Jones, trackside for the athletics, got the mix perfect and was rewarded with some great interviews.

I have also recently moderated an interview exam paper for Sky Sports journalists who are put through the wringer as part of an intensive diploma programme. Sky expect their journalists to ask incisive, probing questions - no loose or closed questions - ones which are open enough to get to the heart of a subject, providing both facts and comment, ones which might open the door to other avenues of exploration.  

Clare Balding is proving herself as the golden girl of the BBC sports team. She has such a well-rounded sporting knowledge, she asks the questions we want to know the answers to, and does so in a conversational and warm manner. 

Her interview with the father of Olympic-winner swimmer Chad le Clos was one of the highlights of the first week's broadcasting. It captured the mood and emotion of a proud father. Clare teased answers out of Brad le Close in what were not easy circumstances. Clare doesn't dominate the interview with her own opinions, she doesn't hog the limelight, she allows her subject to glow.

Why broadcasters believe ex-professionals make the best interviewers is baffling. Bring them in for analysis, absolutely. Australian swimmer Ian Thorp, for example, has been a revelation, Michael Johnson is earnest, blunt and thoughtful. 

The ex-pros may be big names in their respective sports, it probably opens doors foe getting interviews, but you sense when put these stars in front of a TV camera they are compromised from asking the difficult, probing questions. Ex-Spurs footballer, Garth Crooks, doesn't shy away from asking a difficult questions for the BBC, but his are loaded with opinion and a loathsome know-all arrogance.

The likes of Sharron Davies could do well to learn from from the professionalism of Clare Balding - in other words, never be afraid to ask the shaving question!