Work put on hold for Tasmanian Max Giuliani as the man who almost became a plumber plans for Paris

Winning the men’s 200 metres freestyle final at the Australian Olympic trials now means Max Giuliani needs some time off from his part time job at Anaconda. But not without reaching “breaking point” so he could book his ticket to Paris.

Max Giuliani almost became a plumber and was all set for his swimming career to disappear down the drain.

Suddenly, in the spirit of David Boon, the former Tasmanian has become one of the hard yakka heroes of Australia’s Olympic swim team by winning the 200m freestyle after a stirring finish.

Giuliani, who works part time at the Anaconda fishing store at Burleigh Heads, quipped one of his next moves would be to hastily arrange some time off.

“I’m going to message the boss after this. I will be away for 10 weeks.‘’

Tommy Neill, who unleashed a blistering anchor leg to earn Australia a bronze medal in the 4x200m relay at the Tokyo Olympics, flashed home from the outside lane to finish second in a time of 1:46.02, just 0.19 behind Giuliani’s winning effort of 1:45.83.

Claiming he had “slaughtered himself to breaking point‘’ with a brutal training regimen, Giuliani felt like a ”walking zombie‘’ in recent months so acute was his

fatigue.

Giuliani with nothing left in the tank after the final of the men’s 200 metre Freestyle. Picture: David Gray / AFP

But soon after qualifying for Paris he was feeling no pain as he reflected on the decision to follow his coach Paul Croswell from Tasmania to Queensland, the stinging loneliness of the initial months, the heavy duty training and finally the honey sweet reward.

Asked how close he was to giving the sport away, Giuliani said “Very, very close.‘’

“All my mates at home are all tradesmen and I suppose you are what you surround yourself with. and that was what I was going to do. Go and do that and have an easy life.‘’

When he landed in Queensland, the joy of feeling a warm sun on his back was nullified by biting pangs of homesickness.

“It was really tough early moving out of home for the first time. I was on the phone to my mates every day. I just stuck with it. I just sort of connected with some of the other swimmers who are a really great crew. I think I have always had that underlying resilience.

Asked about the challenges of launching a swim career in Tasmania, he almost started shivering “I used to have to defrost the window of my car probably four months a year. There’s no more minus temperatures. I used to get up in the morning and my car wouldn’t start.‘’

Neill was relieved to seal his place in a tight finish.

Thomas Neill (C) congratulated by his fellow swimmers after his second place. Picture: David Gray / AFP

“I think trials is always an interesting one, because everyone’s doing their own thing, but when it comes to a race like that, it is just about racing,” Neill said.

“Fortunately me and Maxy are one-two. It was very tight and that’s a strong 4x200m as well.

“You always like to send a message and I think that race in particular, it’s all about the 4x200m as well, and you can count on Australia bringing a very strong team for that and trying to stick it to the Brits over there.

“It’s massive. I grew up playing team sports. Relay is the closest thing we have to a team in swimming. It’s unreal. They’re my favourite event. To represent it alongside Maxy and the other boys is unreal.”

Elijah Winnington, who had already secured a place in the 400m freestyle, finished third in 1:46.08, with Kai Taylor, the son of Olympic great Hayley Lewis, finishing fourth, ensuring he will also be picked for his first Olympics in the relay.

Australia could take up to six for the relay, giving Zac Incerti (fifth) and Alex Graham (sixth) a chance of getting picked.

Originally published as Work put on hold for Tasmanian Max Giuliani as the man who almost became a plumber plans for Paris