Keep up with all the action from the pool in the lead up to the Tokyo Olympics
The stars look to be aligning perfectly for Australia’s swimming team for Tokyo. Who are out best medal chances? See who is primed for gold.
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No one wants to make any bold predictions just yet for fear of jinxing the team, but all the stars look to be aligning perfectly for Australia’s swimming team for Tokyo.
The reluctance to talk up the team is understandable because it is not the Aussie way.
After winning a swag of gold medals at the 2000, 2004 and 2008 Olympics, the Dolphins did not do as well as expected at the past two Olympics, in London and Rio.
There is plenty of quiet optimism that Tokyo will see a return to the glory days and might even be the best swimming squad Australia has assembled.
Just don’t expect anyone in the team to say that out loud.
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All the ingredients for success are there with the 35-strong squad possessing that ideal blend of youth and experience – with Cate Campbell and Emily Seebohm picked for their fourth Olympics, along with 21 rookies, including a handful of teenagers.
The performances from the recent Australian trials were stunning, with Emma McKeon, Ariarne Titmus, Kaylee McKeown, Elijah Winnington and Zac Stubblety-Cook storming to the top of the world rankings in their individual events.
There are great signs too for Australia’s relays, which are stacked with world-leading performers, but no one is counting medals yet because everyone knows the real test will come in Tokyo.
The US has topped the medal count in swimming at every Olympics since 1992 and has already predicted it will do the same in Tokyo.
The Russians also have a strong team, as do the British, the Chinese and host nation Japan so every medal Australia wins in the pool will have to be earned.
AUSSIES TO WATCH
ARIARNE TITMUS
The “Terminator” faces arguably the toughest challenge in modern day swimming – tackling US superstar Katie Ledecky – but she has shown she is up to the challenge. Titmus beat Ledecky to win gold in the 400m freestyle at the 2019 world championships and came within a whisker of breaking the American’s world record at the trials. Billed as the biggest clash of the Tokyo Olympics, they will also square off in the 200m, 800m and 4x200m relay.
“She’s not going to have it all her own way I guess.”
EMMA McKEON
Quietly spoken outside the pool, McKeon is a ferocious competitor in the water and Australia’s most reliable medal winner. She won four medals at the 2016 Rio Olympics, then six at the last world championships and could compete in as many as eight events in Tokyo – possibly matching Michael Phelps’ record haul from Athens (2004) and Beijing (2008).
“I’m due for a good one, I have a lot more belief in myself.”
KAYLEE McKEOWN
One of the rising stars of the Australian team. Still just 19, McKeown is ranked No.1 in the world in three different events: 100m backstroke, 200m backstroke and 200m individual medley. She is the only swimmer to have set a world record in an Olympic event during the pandemic.
“We’ve been revving up the whole year so to finally get myself on to that Olympic team is a dream come true.”
CATE CAMPBELL
Aged 29 and still swimming as fast as she has before. No one was more disappointed than Campbell at the way things panned out in Rio when she went in as world record holder in the 100m freestyle and missed a medal. She has dusted herself off and has another great shot, this time in her individual sprint races and the Australian women’s relays, which look almost unbeatable.
“It’s such an exciting team to be a part of and going to a fourth Olympics, it’s something I’m extremely proud to say that I have achieved.”
ELIJAH WINNINGTON
Another emerging star off to his first Olympics, Winnington is ranked No.1 in the world in the 400m freestyle, one of Australia’s signature events. Murray Rose (1956, 1960), Brad Cooper (1972), Ian Thorpe (2000, 2004) and Mack Horton (2016) have all won Olympic gold in the race and Winnington hopes to add his name to the honour roll.
“If you make the team in 400m for Australia you are very much in contention for an Olympic medal let alone Olympic gold.”
KYLE CHALMERS
“King Kyle” was relatively unknown when he won gold in the 100m freestyle at Rio in 2016 when he was still a teenager. Everyone knows him now as he attempts to defend his title in a race where mental strength is as important as physical strength with the winner often decided by tiny fractions of a second.
“I want to be part of the greatest races in history.”
ZAC STUBBLETY-COOK
One of the bolters of the Aussie team, Stubblety-Cook has stormed into calculations for the men’s 200m breaststroke after posting the second-fastest time in history at the trials. No Australian man has won an Olympic gold medal in the event since the last time the Games were held in Tokyo in 1964, but could that be an omen?
“I’m just ecstatic. I can’t wait to get to Tokyo.”
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