Time to recognise Covid successes

The Dolphins, Australia’s greatest Olympic swim team with 20 medals between them including nine gold, are taking the prospect of 14 days of quarantine at Howard Springs in their stride. It’ll be a time to watch the rest of the Games, regroup, sleep and look forward to going home, some to lockdown.

In lamenting our Covid woes – vaccine shortages, the slow rollout, restrictions and much else – Australians tend to overlook our comparative success in managing the pandemic. We were, and remain, far ahead of most nations – including those with high vaccination rates that are opening up but struggling mightily with fresh outbreaks. In limiting deaths, caseloads and flattening the proverbial curve, we’re still well ahead.

Good management of the virus last year and much of this year, especially in NSW and Queensland where most of the swimmers live, enabled them to train fairly freely. In February they came together for a 10-day relay camp at the Gold Coast, no doubt perfecting those split-second changeovers. From late June they trained in Cairns ahead of Tokyo.

Many Games athletes, in contrast, found training facilities bolted for much of the past 18 months. US star Katie Ledecky counted herself lucky to find a two-lane, 25m backyard pool owned by a family who welcomed her to train.

The Dolphins’ talent and spirit prevailed. They made the best of good preparation.