Bronte Campbell says the right choice of a roommate is central to Olympic success in Rio

BRONTE Campbell has warned that however much you prepare for an Olympic Games, success hangs on picking the right person to bunk with. And there’s a group you should definitely avoid.

AFTER thousands of hours and kilometres in the pool, millions of dollars in funding and cutting edge sports science, the Australian swimming team’s gold medal tally at the Rio Olympics could be decided by the purchase of a simple, cheap item from the local chemist.

Ear plugs.

The Dolphins are bursting with gold medal chances, but some of its members, apparently, could also stand on top of the podium in Rio if the International Olympic Committee quickly introduced snoring as a competition.

Olympic swimmers Cate and her sister Bronte Campbell will share a room in Rio. Picture: Alex Coppel

“You learn a lot about people when they are your roomies and there’s some awful roomies on the team,” Bronte Campbell, a triple gold medal winner at last year’s world championships who is bunking with older sister and 50m and 100m freestyle rival Cate, laughed.

“The snorers — they are the number one people on your list of people you don’t want to room with.”

The swim team is putting the final touches to its pre-Olympic campaign at Auburn University, an elite college in Alabama, with squad members staying two to a room in a hotel.

It’s comfortable, but with solid sleep vital and help like the infamous Stilnox no longer an option, ear plugs have been key in Auburn and will continue to be when they settle into the athletes’ village in Rio ahead of the August 5 opening ceremony.

Bronte and Cate Campbell ’enjoy’ an ice bath at the University of Auburn Aquatic Centre in Alabama Photo by Delly Carr.

“I did bring ear plugs,” breaststroker Taylor McKeown said. “But it’s fun. It’s part of the memory.

“If you have a snoring roommate you can go back in 10 years and say ‘I raced this good at the Olympics and I had no sleep because my roommate snored the whole time’.”

Bronte says she is lucky because sister Cate is not one of the Australian team’s world-class snorers.

“I know Cate pretty well and she doesn’t snore that loudly so it’s good to have her in my room,” Bronte said.

Bronte, however, admits to having some roommate flaws of her own.

“I’ll be honest,” she said. “We are both pretty messy, but I’m definitely the worst.”

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Originally published as Bronte Campbell says the right choice of a roommate is central to Olympic success in Rio