Golden hour looms for Australian swimmers in Paris

[Pelican Press 0]

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Golden hour looms for *********** swimmers in Paris

Swimming Australia’s head coach Rohan Taylor is refusing to heed the hype.

Taylor knows lofty expectations surround Australia’s swimmers when they open their Olympic campaign at the Paris pool on Saturday.

In less than one hour of competition, Australia is favoured to win the initial three gold medals on offer at the pool.

Ariarne Titmus is on the cusp of a rare Olympic feat; Sam Short is on the verge of joining his hero.

And Australia’s women’s 4x100m freestyle relayers appear destined to extend the nation’s Olympic dominance to a dozen years.

But Taylor won’t make any predictions about potential medal counts.

“I don’t like to predict that in my mind, then you just get caught up in whether you’re ahead or behind,” Taylor said.

“Just sit back and let it happen.

“We’re very, very hopeful. We’ve got a team full of really competitive athletes who are striving to … go for it.

“We want to get as many medals as we can.”

Titmus is tipped to become just the second woman to win consecutive 400m freestyle gold medals at the Olympics – only ********* Martha Norelius in 1924-28 has achieved that feat.

Titmus’ showdown with ********* legend Katie Ledecky, the most successful female swimmer ever, and ********* teen Summer McIntosh is billed as a highlight race at the Paris pool.

Titmus is relishing the race: the trio have all held the 400m free world record in the past three years, with the benchmark currently owned by the Tasmanian-born ace.

“It’s more satisfying in my races that to win, I have to beat the greatest,” Titmus said.

“That gives me more satisfaction knowing that if I do win, it’s in the toughest field in the world.”

Titmus’ highly-anticipated race is scheduled just 10 minutes after the first swimming gold medal of the Paris Games is decided, in the men’s 400m freestyle.

Australia’s Short, who won at last year’s world championships, covets collecting that gold to join his idol Ian Thorpe as an Olympic champion in the event.

Short’s Dolphins teammate Elijah Winnington is also a genuine chance but dangers lurk to Australia’s dream one-two finish – notably South Korea’s Kim Woo-min and ******* powerhouse Lukas Martens.

The third swimming gold medal available is Australia’s to lose, in the women’s 4x100m freestyle relay.

*********** women have triumphed in the relay since the 2012 London Games and have held the world record since 2014, lowering it four times since.

The relay team will likely feature Australia’s most successful Olympian , five-time gold medallist Emma McKeon, the precocious Mollie O’Callaghan and Shayna Jack, who missed the Tokyo Olympics three years ago due to a doping ban.

Australia is also among contenders for the fourth and final gold medal on Saturday night in Paris, the men’s 4x100m freestyle relay.

Kyle Chalmers, arguably Australia’s greatest-ever male relayer, will anchor a team of emerging talent including William Yang, who made his first Olympic squad despite having surgery to remove a benign tumour in his spine just over a year ago.

But the Dolphins will be chasing hot favourites the ******* States with Britain rated the biggest threat to the Americans.

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