Swimmer Chelsea Gubecka confirmed as Australia’s first Paris Olympian

The first of hundreds of Australian Olympic team members has been confirmed for the Paris Games, but uncertainty surrounds her event.

Open water swimmer Chelsea Gubecka is the first athlete to be selected for the Australian Olympic team at the Paris 2024 Games. Picture: Steve Pohlner

Open water swimmer Chelsea Gubecka has been named as the first Australian Olympic team member ahead of the 2024 Paris Games.

The Queenslander will compete at her second Olympics in the 10km marathon swim, which is slated to be held in the River Seine but could be moved or rescheduled due to lingering water quality issues.

The event would be the first time Olympic swimming has been held in the Seine since competitions were banned in the river due to pollution in 1923.

Gubecka, who missed the Tokyo Games but made her Olympic debut as a teenager in Rio, will become the second Australian woman to compete in the marathon swimming at two separate games along with Melissa Gorman.

Chelsea Gubecka was presented with a ceremonial ticket to the Paris Olympics after she was the first Australian team member selected in the 10km marathon swim event. Picture: Steve Pohlner

The 25-year-old said news of her selection had given her “goosebumps”.

“It doesn’t feel real at all … to be the first athlete selected is such an honour,” Gubecka said.

“To go to one Olympics is special but to be a dual Olympian is unbelievable.

“I was only 17 when I made my first Games, so I probably didn’t soak in the experience as much as I should have, but this is really special.”

Gubecka won the silver medal at this year’s world championships and is a six-time national champion.

She thanked her coach Kate Sparkes as she became the first of an expected 460 to 480 athletes to be named in the Australian squad for the Games.

Olympic organisers anticipate the open water swimming will go ahead in the Seine, but a World Cup meet in August was cancelled at the last minute due to poor water quality.

Gubecka with Australian Olympic Chef de Mission Anna Meares in Brisbane on Thursday. Picture: Bradley Kanaris / Getty Images

World Aquatics president Husain Al-Musallam said above average rainfall leading up to the event had made conditions unsafe for competitors, with concern high after the BBC reported 88 swimmers at an open water event in Sunderland the previous month had fallen ill with suspected norovirus.

“Based on this weekend, it is clear that further work is needed with Paris 2024 and local authorities to ensure robust contingency plans are in place for next year,” Al-Musallam said in August.

“World Aquatics understands that further infrastructure projects will be completed to significantly improve water quality in the Seine in the lead-up to next year’s Olympic Games. “World Aquatics remains excited at the prospect of city-centre Olympic racing for the world’s best open water swimmers next summer.”

Originally published as Swimmer Chelsea Gubecka confirmed as Australia’s first Paris Olympian