Olympics 2024: Embattled swimming coach Michael Palfrey will remain in Paris with Australian team

Embattled Australian swim coach Michael Palfrey has been spared the guillotine but faces an unhappy welcome when he gets back home.

Embattled Australian swim coach Michael Palfrey faces an unhappy welcome when he gets back home despite being told he can remain in Paris with the Dolphins during their Olympic Games campaign.

Palfrey was almost sent packing in disgrace before the opening ceremony after it was discovered he had broken the team’s rules by coaching a top South Korean rival.

He was spared the guillotine only after head coach Rohan Taylor consulted with everyone on the team — including swimmers and staff.

And while not everyone agreed he should stay, the majority voted for him to remain because of the Australian swimmers on the team he trains.

“I was given the responsibility,” Taylor said.

“The AOC (Australian Olympic Committee) gave full faith to me and said, ‘hey, you make the decision that’s best for the team.’

“So I made that decision and every single athlete and coach that I spoke to said, ‘we back you in your decision’, whether they agreed or not.”

Rohan Taylor (right) was convinced to allow Michael Palfrey (left) to stay on in Paris. Picture: Adam Head

Taylor could not hide his fury at Palfrey and said the matter was not finished yet because there would be repercussions once the team gets back to Australia.

“Michael apologised profusely for his mistake.” Taylor said.

“I’m very critical of him. I believe it was a very bad error of judgement and the consequences for that will be coming in the future when we get back home.

“But for the nine days of our competition, my job is to make a call around the wellbeing and the performance environment. And that’s what I’ve done.”

The Australian team chef de mission Anna Meares was also scathing in her criticism of Palfrey after he appeared on Korean television saying he hoped Kim Woo-min beats Australia’s gold medal contenders to win the men’s 400m freestyle.

But she said the AOC also backed the team’s decision to let Palfrey remain in Paris until the swimming competition ends.

“I support Rohan Taylor and his team and the decision they have taken in the interests of the swimming team. It is a decision based on high-performance and wellbeing,” Meares said.

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Michael Palfrey will stay with the Dolphins team during the Olympic Games. Picture: Adam Head

Palfrey has not made any public comment since he was caught out, but was at training as usual on Thursday.

While it’s not uncommon for Australian coaches to train elite foreigners, Swimming Australia has recently introduced rules stipulating that coaches on the payroll can’t assist rival nations during major events such as the Olympics.

Taylor said all the coaches were told about the new rules before Paris.

“It’s not the first time that a coach in Australia has worked with foreign athletes. It’s been going on for a long, long time,” he said.

Australian duo Sam Short and Elijah Winnington will compete against Kim Woo-min in the 800m. Picture: AFP

“I had foreign athletes training with me for a long time. Britain, you know, Ireland, we’ve all had them. They come to Australia because we’re the best coaches and we have the best programs and we’re a small nation that fights well above our weight. And so we’re an attractive place.

“When you get a talented athlete come into your pool and they happen to be from another country, it can be a bit intoxicating and I would suggest that’s probably the case, but I don’t know the motives, to be honest.”

Taylor had earlier labelled Palfrey’s actions as ‘un-Austalian’ and while he ultimately stopped short of sending him home, he did say he felt personally let down because the issue had the potential to disrupt all the good work the squad had done in preparing for the Olympics.

“It’s disappointing. It’s weighed heavily because I do know all the coaches. I do a lot of work with the coaches. I trust the coaches extensively,” Taylor said.

“They work extremely hard on the athletes and we work really hard on being united. And to have somebody make a really silly error of judgement and not really think about the team at that time, was disappointing for me.

“From that perspective, I was angry and I made sure he knew that.”