Culture no issue for Aust swimmers: Horton

Performance and not team culture will form the brunt of a review into Australia's performance in the pool at the Olympics, says gold medallist Mack Horton.

Australian gold medallist swimmer Mack Horton
Gold medallist Mack Horton says reviews into the Rio Olympics swim team will focus on performance. (AAP)

Olympic swimmer Mack Horton says reviews into Australia's showing in the pool at Rio will focus on purely on team performance and not culture.

Australia's swim team won three gold medals, four short of the AOC's predictions from their benchmark study last December.

A Fairfax report said last week there was a divide between swimmers and other Australian athletes in the Olympic village.

They story claimed swimmers pulled down posters of past champions including Herb Elliott and Cathy Freeman from the village.

But gold medallist Mack Horton said Australia's smaller-than-anticipated medal haul was purely a performance issue.

News that makes sense

Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

"(Coach) Jacco (Verhaeren) summed it up perfectly in one of the team meetings," the 400m freestyle winner told AAP.

"The reviews aren't going to be about team culture like in 2012 - they're going to be about performance."

The swim team's culture at the London Games was heavily criticised, with a win-at-all-costs attitude described as "toxic" by an independent review commissioned by Swimming Australia.

Australia claimed just one swimming gold in 2012.

Rio gold medallist Kyle Chalmers, like Horton also in his maiden Olympics, said the swim team was supportive regardless of results.

"Obviously some people didn't swim as well as they were hoping," the 18-year-old sprinter said.

"We're a very close team. The people that swam well got around the people who didn't swim well.

"We'll keep building for 2020."


2 min read

Published

Source: AAP



Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News straight to your inbox

Sign up now for daily news from Australia and around the world. You can also subscribe to Insight's weekly newsletter for in-depth features and first-person stories.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Follow SBS News

Download our apps

Listen to our podcasts

Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service

Stream now

Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world