Olympics superfish Sam Short backs contentious drop-in pool plans for Brisbane Arena

The world’s 400m freestyle champion Sam Short has backed plans for Brisbane Arena to have a drop-in swimming pool despite calls from advocates to have a permanent aquatic centre built instead.

Rising star of the Australian swimming, Sam Short, with youngsters Hayden Stevenson 4, Aurora Gold, 6, Margot Vella, 6 and brother Bernard, 4, at the Centenary pool, Brisbane. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen/Courier Mail

One of Australia’s top Paris Olympic prospects, Queensland superfish Sam Short, has backed contentious plans to hold the 2032 Brisbane Games swimming events in a drop-in pool in the proposed Brisbane Arena stadium.

The Miles government this week backed the Olympics infrastructure review’s recommendation to proceed with the $2.5b Brisbane Arena project at Roma St, but on the carpark and maintenance depot site rather than above the railway station as originally planned.

Swimming advocates including Olympian and businessman Mark Stockwell are calling for a permanent aquatic centre to be built instead but Short - the reigning world 400m freestyle champion - said he was comfortable with having a drop-in pool.

“The majority of international swimming competitions at the moment have drop-in pools,” Short said.

“I think a drop-in pool’s fine. A lot of international countries use them because then you can use the stadium for a multitude of other events as well.”

Rising star of the Australian swimming, Sam Short has backed contentious plans to hold the 2032 Brisbane Games swimming events in a drop-in pool. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen

A former surf lifesaver and skin cancer survivor, Short, 20, was cruelly denied a berth at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics because of Swimming Australia’s tough selection criteria.

But he has been swimming as much as 80 kilometres a week ahead of the national trials in Brisbane in June in a bid to make the Aussie team for Paris, where he hopes to compete in the 400m, 800m and 1500m.

Short trains at Brisbane’s Centenary pool, operated by Rackley Swimming, whose 30,000 students across South East Queensland and NSW are rallying behind the chain’s stars with a “Rackley Race to France” campaign.

The swimmers aim to collectively swim the distance from SEQ to France - roughly 37,500km - as a show of support for hometown heroes including Short and fellow Centenary elite squad members Tommy Neill and Meg Harris.

They will log their daily swim sessions in a live tracker in a bid to go the distance all the way to the French coastline.

“It’s all about showing the youngsters in the club that you can go from age group swimming at Rackleys all the way to the Olympics,” Short said.