Australian swim team get first look at Rio’s Olympic Aquatic Stadium

IN A show of force and intent, Australia’s fresh-faced Olympic swimming team have taken over Rio’s Olympic Aquatic Stadium

The Australian Swimming team hit the pool for training for the first time since their arrival. Picture: Alex Coppel.

THIS is the moment the Australian swimming team have waited four long years for.

A first-look and taste, of what erasing the nightmares from the worst Olympic pool performance in 20-years in London, will feel like.

Heralded as the strongest-ever Australian swimming team, the fresh-faced Dolphins completed their first training session inside Rio’s $38 million, 15,000 seat Olympic Aquatics Stadium, just after 8pm local time on Monday.

Maddie Wilson stretches ahead of a swim at Olympic Park Rio de Janeiro. Picture: Alex Coppel.

And if the confident young Dolphins were aiming to fire a warning shot to the world, they undoubtedly hit their mark square between the eyes.

The 34-strong Australian team made their presence felt, from the moment they arrived on pool deck, turning the heads of rival swimmers and media.

Having arrived in Rio from a training camp in the US only 19-hours earlier, the after-dark swim session was specifically scheduled in a bid to acclimatise and best prepare for the unusual Olympic programming which is set to see finals finish in the early hours of the morning.

Consistent with his need for speed over the 100m sprint-trip, ‘The Professor’ Cam McEvoy, 22, was first out onto the pool deck.

Showing little sign of pressure or nerves, as he attempts to become Australia’s first Olympic men’s 100m freestyle champion since 1968, McEvoy mingled and laughed with his teammates and swimmers from rival countries.

Cate Campbell. Picture: Alex Coppel.

James Magnussen. Picture: Alex Coppel.

Gold medal contenders McEvoy, Emily Seebohm, Mitch Larkin, Cate Campbell and Mack Horton got down to business with little fuss or distraction.

Their steely gaze was noticeable, so too that of two-time world champion James Magnussen.

In vast contrast to four years ago, in the lead-up to London where he ultimately succumbed under the weight of pressure, ‘The Missile’ went through his paces without any sense of bravado.

That distinct lack of cockiness was obvious, as this new breed of superstars attempt to make up for the embarrassment of London, where Australia claimed just one gold medal – and 10 medals in total.

Cameron McEvoy. Picture: Alex Coppel.

A throng of international media, including photographers from Japan, the US and Germany were captivated by the arrival of the Dolphins, sparking a splash of camera flashes.

Even Queenslander Leah Neale, celebrating her 21st birthday, ignored any temptation to slacken off just four days out from competition.

The Australian swim team are aiming to kickstart their Rio campaign in the best way possible, with gold in the 4x100m women’s relay on day one.

Originally published as Australian swim team get first look at Rio’s Olympic Aquatic Stadium