![]() ![]() Swimming can be a game of centimetres and milliseconds, which means definitively explaining Australia’s medal success is an impossible task. Despite the turbulence of the past 18 months and the lack of international competition, Australia’s swimmers – individually and in relay teams, Olympic debutants and the more experienced stars – were dominant in Tokyo. Following the disappointment of just one gold medal at London 2012, there was some improvement in Rio in 2016 – albeit the haul of three gold medals was still considered to be short of the team’s potential. Tokyo 2020 marked an emphatic return to form for the Australian swim team. The hope was to bring that to fruition so that when they got here they could draw on that experience.” I wanted them to understand that they are capable of responding. So not only did we put a relay competition on, but we did up the pool – with fireworks and all kinds of stuff. “What I wanted to do was to … basically just throw them off. “One of the philosophies that I was bringing to the team was we were going to enter into an environment that was just going to throw up things – no certainty,” said Taylor of his surprise February mini-competition. Australia also won a medal in six of the seven relays, which had been an area of renewed focus for the team. The haul betters Australia’s eight gold medals at the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne (although there were less events on the swim program at the time). The nation collected nine gold, three silver and eight bronze medals in the pool, plus a first-ever medal – bronze – in the open water marathon swimming. “I think that day, in my mind, was the catalyst for what we saw today and especially in those relays all the way through.”Īt Tokyo 2020, Australia’s Dolphins – the swim team’s nickname – had their most successful Olympics in history. “You watch that last relay for the women there and you just saw people fighting for that gold medal,” said Bohl, moments after witnessing the McKeon-led 4x100m women’s medley relay team beat the United States to gold by less than two-tenths of a second. Six months later, standing inside the Tokyo Aquatics Centre after the final day of the Olympic swim meet, Bohl recalled that day on the Gold Coast. “They got out of their comfort zone and raced hard to try and win,” said Bohl. The swimmers changed into their swimsuits and returned to the pool deck to race. These are the events you’re doing.’” Taylor had sprung an unexpected series of races on his team. We divide you into two teams – green and gold. “He just said: ‘Guys, you don’t know what’s going to happen, here’s what’s going to happen. “Rohan had a really good idea,” explained Michael Bohl, coach of Australia’s Tokyo 2020 swim star Emma McKeon. ![]()
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