Olympics 2021: Swim sensation Elijah Winnington beginning to realise Tokyo is the real deal

Australian swimmer Elijah Winnington had been travelling under the Tokyo radar, but the fastest time for two years at the national trials blew his cover out of the water.

ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA – JUNE 12: Elijah Winnington celebrates winning the Men's 400 LC Metre Freestyle final during the Australian National Olympic Swimming Trials at SA Aquatic & Leisure Centre on June 12, 2021 in Adelaide, Australia. (Photo by Mark Brake/Getty Images)

When you are ranked No. 1 in the world — and you just knocked the champion out of the ring — there’s no point trying to fake it anymore.

Australia’s newest swim sensation Elijah Winnington is just finding that out.

Thanks in part to the global pandemic, the 21-year-old has been able to keep a relatively low profile in the build up to the Tokyo Olympics — but not any more.

His cover is well and truly blown after his stunning performance at the Australian trials — when he posted the fastest time in the world for two years to head into Tokyo as the early favourite to win the 400m freestyle.

No-one is counting any chickens yet because the 400m is always a tough race, testing both speed and stamina, but the stars are lining up for Winnington.

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Elijah Winnington smashed his rivals and while recording the fastest time for two years in 400m freestyle when he competed in Adelaide.

Mack Horton, who won the Olympic gold medal in Rio in 2016 won’t be defending his title after finishing third at the trials, while China’s four-time world champion Sun Yang has been booted out of the pool for another anti-doping offence.

For his part, Winnington has been trying to keep a lid on all the hype but knows he’s losing that battle with the Games starting in just over two weeks.

“It‘s actually really difficult because it is the Olympic Games and as a swimmer, and in most sports, the Olympics is the pinnacle,” he said.

“It‘s pretty hard to just sit back and say, ‘I’m going to treat it like just another meet’.”

If Winnington is starting to feel the pressure, he’s doing a good job hiding it because one of the most striking things about him is how calm he appears.

Winnington works on his strength at the Aussie Olympics training camp in Cairns this week. Picture: Delly Carr

That was evident at the Olympic trials — where he also qualified for the 200m freestyle — and he is confident he’ll maintain his composure when his big moment arrives and the whole world is watching.

That will be around lunchtime on Sunday July 25 where — if all goes according to plan — he could become Australia’s first gold medal winner in Tokyo.

“At the end of the day, I like to think that I can perform under pressure and I perform well with nerves,” he said.

“So if it makes me a little bit more nervous or if I have a little bit more pressure on my back, I don‘t actually say that is a bad thing.

“I kind of like that. But at the same time, I just try and simplify it and say it is just another meet because at the end of the day, I can‘t be stressing about it because then I’m just wasting energy when I don’t need to be.”

Originally published as Olympics 2021: Swim sensation Elijah Winnington beginning to realise Tokyo is the real deal