Rio Olympics: Who is Aussie swimmer Josh Palmer?
WHEN news broke that two Australian swimmers had been disciplined by the Olympic team, most people were asking Emma McKeon and Josh Who?
WHEN news broke that two Australian swimmers had been disciplined by the Olympic team for breaking team rules about late nights out in Rio, most people were asking Emma McKeon and Josh Who?
McKeon won four medals including one gold, two silver and one bronze last week but Josh Palmer made a low-key Olympic debut that lasted just over one minute in the 100m breaststroke heats.
But yesterday the fire services officer from Adelaide who lost 11kg to get to Rio became the face of the Australian Olympic team’s crackdown on team rules.
The 25-year-old was one of five debutants on the Australian swimming team in Rio but kept a low profile with just one 100m breaststroke heat in which he finished fifth.
Palmer is a scholarship athlete with the South Australian Sports Institute and swims with the Marion Swimming Club under coach Peter Bishop — the man behind Kyle Chalmers’ rapid ascension to the top of the world.
His personal motto is “life’s not about waiting for the storm to pass, it’s about learning how to dance in the rain”.
In his Olympic team profile he says he would spend his last $10 on a zinger box from KFC, claims he can hold his breath for over three minutes and has a yin and yang tattoo which brings balance to his life.
Palmer battled hip injuries for years and almost retired from swimming in 2012 when he was third in the 50m breaststroke and seventh in the 100m at the national trials.
That year he also broke triple Olympian Phil Rogers’ longstanding 50m breaststroke state record by 0.01 of a second when he clocked 28.39 secs.
But he moved from Le Fevre Portside Swimming Club and later linked up with Bishop at Marion and lost 11kg to get back into shape, and booked his ticket for the Rio Games in April.
Palmer finished second in the 100m breaststroke at selection trials behind Jake Packard but his time was 0.76 of a second outside the qualifying time for an individual swim.
He was added to the team as part of the 4x100m medley relay squad but national selectors later chose to enter him in the individual event and not the relay in Rio.
“I had a few years where I was going through the motions,” Palmer told The Advertiser in April.
“I was just struggling more outside the pool, which was affecting my racing.
“I didn’t rate myself a chance (in the lead up to London) purely for seeing guys like Brenton (Rickard) and Christian (Sprenger) and psychologically to me they looked a little bit untouchable.
“I think my work-life balance wasn’t there and that’s where I contemplated throwing in the towel. Pretty glad I didn’t do that now.”