Former breaststroke world record holder Matt Wilson was also named part of the relay team as he just failed to achieve his qualifying time.
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Veteran swimmers Cate Campbell and Emily Deebohm have been named by Australia in their 35-athlete swimming team that will travel to Tokyo for the Olympic Games next month. The inclusion of the duo, and especially Campbell, cut quite an intimidating image of the Australians. There was a lot of speculation over Mack Horton and whether the list of 17 men would include his name. Horton had disappointed at the Olympic swimming trials in Adelaide earlier in the week. However, Horton will take part in The Games as a relay swimmer. Former breaststroke world record holder Matt Wilson was also named part of the relay team as he just failed to achieve his qualifying time.
“We got informed yesterday that there was some extenuating circumstances we needed to look at,” said Swimming Australia head coach Rohan Taylor on Thursday. Backstroker Mitch Larkin said Wilson’s inclusion would further unite the team.
“It was a rollercoaster this week, pretty emotional and then watching Matt swim and just miss the qualifying time knowing he had missed it four years ago was heartbreaking,” he said. “I think every athlete on the pool deck felt it and tonight was a surprise to me, I didn’t know he was selected. Seeing his smile and the tears that followed shortly afterwards, it’s pretty raw emotion,” he added.
The Australian swimming team is one that has three athletes heading to their third Olympics, nine bound for their second Games, and 21 debutantes. One could say that it is a healthy mix of youth and experience. The Aussies will be one of the strongest contenders for the gold in the swimming events, and may even win the most medals in the sport.
Pop artist Cody Simpson would have perhaps been one of the names on the Australian swim team, and that indeed would have made for an incredible story. However, that was not the case. The singer finished last in the 100-meter butterfly final at the Australian Olympic swimming trials on Thursday. He said, however, that he was trying to focus on the bigger picture. He will not be one of the 35 heading to Tokyo for The Games but said that making the finals of qualifying was a massive feat.
“To be in that final, that is my achievement for this year, that is my gold medal at least for 2021,” Simpson said. “I didn’t expect to be remotely competitive until 2022-23 at the earliest,” he added.
The 24-year-old used to a pretty talented junior swimmer, before putting aside his sporting aspirations to make a career in music in America. Fortunately, he succeeded in making his career a success. He is now looking to get back to swimming at a professional level and might make the next Olympics if he keeps improving at the sport.
“The cool thing about my swimming is I don’t even know what my best event is yet,” he said. “I just chose the 100 ‘fly because it was all I had time to race and prepare for this year,” he added.
