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Why night one at the pool could be the greatest in Australian Olympic history
Paris: The majority of Australians will wake up on Sunday morning having slept through what could end up being the most successful night in Australian swimming history at the Olympics.
There have been many golden days in the pool for the Dolphins since swimming began at the inaugural Olympics in 1896 but a 72-minute window from 4.42am to 5.54am (AEST) early on Sunday morning could be like nothing else.
This is an evening at the pool that has been talked about for months and could be remembered for decades to come if Australia’s big names fire when it matters.
Australia has never won three gold medals on the same night of swimming competition at an Olympics. There have been many instances where Australia has come away with two gold medals, but three first places in the same day is an elusive feat this team, described by Ian Thorpe as Australia’s greatest of all-time, would love to achieve.
There are four decent chances, in the men’s 400m freestyle, women’s 400m freestyle and both 4x100m freestyle relays.
Provided nothing goes wrong in the heats, Elijah Winnington and Sam Short, world champions in 2022 and 2023 respectively, will battle it out against Germany’s Lukas Martens in a race also featuring Kim Woo-min, the South Korean swimmer who Australian coach Mick Palfrey controversially said this week he wanted to win.
Short, whose pre-race routine is eating his mum’s spaghetti bolognese – which is proving hard to find in Paris – thinks he can break Paul Biedermann’s world record of 3:40.07 which has stood since 2009.
“He’s unbelievably good,” Grant Hackett, a Stan Sport expert, said of Short. “It’s one thing to win a world champs, to win a Commonwealth Games, or produce a really fast time as a one-off, but to be able to produce it on that one day every four years … it’s very, very different sort of pressure that you’ve got to deal with.”
Winnington beat Short at trials but the latter was ill. Short likes to take races out fast but the question is whether he will be audacious enough to do it in an Olympic final where fading late is every swimmer’s worst nightmare.
“You’ll have to be a 3:39 to win the Olympics,” Short said. “You can’t go into a competition without the goal of winning. It’s been my dream since I was young to feel like an Olympic gold medallist. I’m putting up some great sessions at training.”
Then comes the “Race of the Century”. The mouth-watering prospect of Ariarne Titmus, Katie Ledecky and Summer McIntosh leaving nothing in the tank in the women’s 400m freestyle is enough for even a casual swimming fan to set an early alarm.
“That race in Paris is the highlight in the pool,” said Thorpe.
Titmus, the reigning Olympic champion, hasn’t lost a 400m race since 2018. Her secret? Gold sparkles on her nails. And a whole lot of hard work under the close eye of coach Dean Boxall, who didn’t watch State of Origin last week because he didn’t want to get too worked up before the Games start. If Titmus wins, there will be more wild celebrations like in Tokyo.
Ledecky is the greatest female swimmer of all-time and the word from Summer McIntosh’s camp is that she won’t flop like she did in this race at last year’s world championships when she finished a disappointing fourth.
Titmus’ best time this year is more than three seconds faster than her rivals but Ledecky exuded confidence this week at a press conference.
“I like my chances,” Ledecky, a former world record holder and the 2016 Olympic champion, said of the 400-metre showdown.
So does Titmus, the reigning Olympic champion.
“I don’t think about the result or the magnitude of what an Olympic Games is,” Titmus said. “I just think about putting together eight great laps.”
By this point of the night, two golds would be a dream result for Australia. It could give the team a monumental lift on night one, with swimmers saying it has an immense impact on the group.
One gold would be a pass mark. Zero would be a disaster.
Onto the relays, where Australia’s women will be aiming to make it four gold medals in the same event across four Games. No Australian team, across any sport, has achieved this feat at an Olympics.
On paper, Australia are still clear favourites over the USA, but the team of Mollie O’Callaghan, Shayna Jack, Meg Harris and Bronte Campbell will need to go close to their personal bests to keep their biggest arch-rivals at bay. This is still the best chance of gold on the night for Australia.
Last is the men’s 4x100m freestyle relay, with Kyle Chalmers anchoring the team home. His times this year haven’t been amazing, but to doubt one of the greatest relay anchor swimmers in history would be foolish. He just needs to be in striking distance. Australia won world championships gold in Fukuoka last year but the USA didn’t have their best team there and threw down some impressive 100m freestyle times at trials.
Australia is in the silver to bronze territory. A win here would bring back memories of Sydney 2000, when Thorpe mowed down Gary Hall jnr. It was the last time Australia won gold in the event.
“I think they’re smokies in this race,” said Thorpe of the Australians.
After months of preparations, the time has come for this crop of swimmers to show just how good they are.
Things might go brilliantly. A disaster could be in store. 10 gold medals would beat the record.
The Australia-USA rivalry will be reignited. Controversial Chinese athletes will win medals. There could be more protests than world records. Let the gold rush begin.
Grant Hackett will appear as a swimming expert on Stan Sport’s daily Olympics shows
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Tom Decent is the chief sports writer for The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X or email.