Australia’s swimmers in Rio not so different to London failures

FOR four years our swimmers have loathed any mention or comparison to the disaster that was the London Olympics. Suddenly we find ourselves back there. writes ROBERT CRADDOCK.

FOR four painful years there has been just one word every Australian swimmer has loathed ... London.

The repeated mention of the shoddy standards of the behaviour of Australia’s swimmers in the lead-up and at the last Olympics would prompt members of the current team to privately sneer “why keep raising it? ... we have moved on ... different time, different team.’’

Suddenly we are back there.

When news broke of the disciplining of swimmers Josh Palmer and Emma McKeon after a night out gone wrong, Rio suddenly felt like London without the open topped buses.

Joshua Palmer was banned from the closing ceremony after a boozy night out. Picture: Cameron Tandy

The disappointing gold medal count. The flops in the pool. The over estimation of our chances and finally the misbehaviour of our swimmers.

There have been far greater Australian misdemeanours at Olympic Games but few more untimely. There are also holes in Palmer’s statement such as the claim he was robbed in broad daylight on Copacabana beach?

Where are the witnesses on the famously crowded beach? Why did he not report it to police?

Olympics chef de mission Kitty Chiller has been doing laps of the country for two years reinforcing the message that good behaviour to her is as important as winning gold medals.

Suddenly Australia is getting neither.

Could they have had any more warnings?

Emma McKeon has been banned from the closing ceremony also.

Australia took a punt on the behaviour of its swimmers and lost.

It initially decided against placing a curfew on them which some security officials disagreed with, feeling that of all the teams, the swimmers were among the youngest and most unworldly and most likely to stray into trouble.

Most of them lead highly structured lives with an extraordinarily narrow focus – basically a black line.

There were fears that with the shackles of competition snapped and having spent three weeks living in the cocoon that is the athlete’s village, they could easily run in to trouble when let loose on the streets of Rio, dangerous for locals never mind tourists.

So it proved. Before a 2am curfew was introduced in the wake of this incident the swimmers were ordered to abide by a rule in which they would travel in groups of at least three people including one male. Safety is numbers was the thought but Rio is party central and it is so easily to get separated.

To clarify, I've followed AOC safety protocol in not travelling to village alone. My error was not texting my team manager. #noclosingforme

— Emma McKeon (@emma_mckeon) August 18, 2016

Both swimmers have been banned from the opening ceremony and for McKeon that is particularly galling because she was considered an outside chance of carrying the Australian flag. Now she will be watching someone else carry it on television.

Chiller, formerly a modern pentathlete, may well have been taken back in time to her only appearance as an Olympian at the Sydney Games where a group of partying swimmers kept her awake throughout the night on the biggest day of her career.

That experience was one of the great driving forces behind her push for respectful behaviour.

She wasn’t happy back then. She will be even angrier now.

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Originally published as Australia’s swimmers in Rio not so different to London failures