Olympics 2016: Australia swimmers seek redemption after London infighting
RIO DE JANEIRO – Four years after Australia’s catastrophic performance in the pool at the London Olympics, coach Jacco Verhaeren was asked if he believed his team was poised to redeem itself this month.
Verhaeren smiled confidently and gestured toward the five swimmers seated alongside him at the podium.
“It’s definitely a special group,” Verhaeren said. “All you see here is world champions.”
Verhaeren has reason to be confident given the array of accomplished swimmers on his roster. Six Aussies boast world-leading times this year, a group headlined by gold-medal favorites Cameron McEvoy (men’s 50-, 100-meter freestyle), Emily Seebohm (women’s 100, 200 backstroke) and Cate Campbell (women’s 50, 100 freestyle).
That group will face immense pressure to atone for the struggles of four years ago when Australia produced its worst Olympic swimming results in two decades. Not only did Australian swimmers capture just a single gold medal in London, a subsequent internal investigation into what went wrong also revealed a “toxic” culture rife with infighting and bullying.
“The feel of this team is certainly different,” said Australia’s Mitch Larkin, one of the favorites in both the men’s 100 and 200 backstroke. “The team now gets along. We’ve all grown up together. There’s a really different sense of pride and trust. There’s a lot of respect within the team, whether you swim the sprint events or the long-distance open water.”
A motivated, harmonious Team Australia is easily the biggest threat to potential American dominance in the pool. Early projections have the Aussies exceeding their previous Olympic swimming record of eight gold medals.
There will likely be a handful of head-to-head battles between the Australians and Americans, most notably in the short sprints. Reigning gold medalist Nathan Adrian is the biggest threat to McEvoy in the men’s 100 freestyle. Larkin is the biggest threat to American Ryan Murphy in the 100 and 200 backstroke. The two countries are also among the favorites in each of the relays.
“Over the years, we’ve had a really healthy rivalry with the U.S.,” Cate Campbell said. “We’ve pushed them, and they’ve pushed us. … I don’t think America would be where they are today without Australia, and I could say the same for Australia. America has pushed us.”
While the rivalry between the Australians and Americans is fierce in the pool, it’s very friendly away from it. McEvoy and Adrian are good friends whose parents trade emails year-round. Seebohm and Missy Franklin are very close, too.
“We race hard against them, but otherwise we’re all pretty good mates,” Seebohm said. “We get along very well. It’s always a little fun at meets when we’re together, at least with the girls. We’re all laughing and giggling and talking about nails and hair and typical girl stuff. For us, it’s very friendly.”
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