Australian swimming at Rio 2016 - Summary, Medal tally, Stars, Flops, Passes

AFTER the horror show that was London 2012, hopes were high for our swimmers in Rio. But we haven’t learnt from all our mistakes.

Todd Balym In Rio de Janeiro

5 min read

August 14, 2016 - 3:09PM

News Corp Australia Network

AUSTRALIAN swimming will throw out its playbook and start again.

Head coach Jacco Verhaeren has promised to overhaul the entire swim program and strategy, including allowing some swimmers to skip trials and be preselected for national teams.

The ‘captain’s pick’ scenario will take the pressure off elite swimmers to peak at trials and save their best performances for competition.

Verhaeren said the elite stars need “time to breathe” after a relentless four-year campaign to wipe the memory of London.

The overhaul comes as Verhaeren faces mounting tension over the performance of the team, the mental strength of some of the swimmers and the selection process for the relay squads.

Australia had entered the Rio Games with projections of anywhere from eight to 11 gold medals but leave with just three gold, four silver and three bronze medals as the USA owned the pool winning 16 of 32 events.

Mack Horton in the Men’s 1500m Freestyle Final.

The Dolphins may have tripled their gold medal haul from the infamous London flop four years ago, but the overall medal tally has remained stable and Verhaeren admitted there were too many missed opportunities for podiums.

The swim team may have found new stars in Mack Horton, Kyle Chalmers, Emma McKeon and Madeline Groves, but it’s the older established champions like Cate Campbell, Cameron McEvoy and Emily Seebohm who flunked this Olympic acid test.

Australia had six individual world champions from last year, but of them only Mitch Larkin’s silver medal in the 200m backstroke was able to be converted from 2015 form into 2016 podium success.

USA, on the other hand, won just eight gold medals at last year’s world titles but then doubled that figure here in Rio as they swept the pool with 16 gold, eight silver and nine bronze.

Verhaeren believes Australia has put too much focus on peaking every year since London as if to prove a point when in reality, everything should have been geared towards the big stage in Rio.

“I think we have to be honest about the result … we definitely missed some opportunities here,” he said.

Cate Campbell with sister Bronte after finishing sixth and fourth in the Women’s 100m freestyle final.

“We could have, would have or should have gone better but could have, would have and should have are never on the podium. That’s the truth.

“We will debrief with the team, debrief with the individuals, look at plans and start planning for the next four years.

“I think most importantly we look at four-year cycle as opposed to trying to be at our very best next year. I think the ship is moving in the right direction but it hasn’t left the harbour yet.”

As a result Verhaeren plans to introduce a pre-selection process to some international teams, meaning stars won’t need to peak perform at the selection trials just to be named for next year’s world titles or the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

“There is definitely going to be something in place for that to avoid peak performance too often,” he said.

“If I’ve seen anything, maybe after 2012 the team felt we have a point to prove in 2013, in 2014, in 2015 and here. There has been almost no recovery or time to breathe.

“We need to start thinking in four-year cycles, especially with the arrived athletes.

“I can’t reveal the whole thing yet because it’s still on the table. It is all to do with longevity of athletes, not pushing them to the limit every year.

Emily Seebohm, Taylor McKeown, Emma McKeon, and Cate Campbell win Silver in the Women’s 4x100m Medley Relay.

“You can peak perform every year but the approach can be a little bit different.”

One area though where Verhaeren is certain Australia excelled is with team culture and harmony, believing the way the Dolphins galvanised around each other during a very difficult meet had set the foundations for a positive future.

The scenes back at the village after Campbell’s 100m freestyle performance, when athletes waited up to console her.

“There has been a lot of talk over the last few years about team culture and stuff like that, a team culture is really tested when you don’t win everything,” he said.

“When you win culture is easy, when you don’t win everything and you go through this rollercoaster a team is tested and I think the team passed with a straight A.

“There is a very healthy culture, I’ve never worked with a team like this, so good and such cohesion and supportive of each other. That is very healthy situation to start talking performance and improvement.”

THE FLOPS

Cameron McEvoy

Was expected to be our first 100m male winner since 1968 but got ‘stage fright’ and failed to fire.

100m freestyle

2016 Best time 47.04

Olympic final team 48.12 (7th)

50m freestyle

2016 Best time 21.44

Olympic semi time (failed to make final) – 21.89

Cate Campbell

Was expected to win three gold medals and break world records but a series of start problems missed the podium but did finish with gold and silver after two great relay swims

100m freestyle

2016 Best time 52.06

Olympic Final time 53.24 (6th)

50m freestyle

2016 best time 23.84

Olympic final time 24.15 (5th)

Australia's Cate Campbell dives to start her women's 50-meter freestyle final.

Emily Seebohm

Carried the expectations of a nation into the games after 18 months of incredible results but crumbled under the pressure

100m backstroke

2016 best time 58.73

Olympic Final Time: 59.19 (7th)

200m backstroke

2016 best time: 2.06:59

Olympic semi time (failed to make final) – 2:09.39

THE STARS

Mack Horton

Was the talk of the town when he stole the gold in an incredible swim - and threw down challenge to drug cheats. Gets a star despite disappointing swim in 1500m freestyle.

400m freestyle

2016 best time 3.41.65

Olympic final time 3.41.55 (1st)

Kyle Chalmers

The star of the games. Came from the clouds to become only the fourth Australian man in Olympic history to grab 100m gold

100m freestyle

2016 best time 47.88

Olympic final time 47.55 (1st)

Australia's Kyle Chalmers shows off his gold medal during the men's 100-meter freestyle medals ceremony.

Maddie Groves

Stuck it to her more fancied rivals and went out hard to hold on for silver at a time when Australia needed silverware

200m butterfly

2016 best time 2.05.47

Olympic final time 2.04.88 (2nd)

Emma McKeon

Disappointing 7th in the 100m butterfly final after qualifying second fastest but bounced back with gutsy bronze medal in 200m freestyle and solid relay swims to leave her first Olympic Games with four medals (one gold, two silver, one bronze).

200m freestyle

2016 best time 1.54.83

Olympic final time 1.54.93 (3rd)

THE PASSES

Mitch Larkin

Went into the meet with high expectations and after initial disappointment missing a medal in the 100m grabbed silver in the 200m

100m backstroke

2016 best time 52.54

Olympic final time – 52.43 (4th)

200m backstroke

2016 best time - 1.53.90

Olympic final time _ 1.53.96 (2nd)