‘Performance by design’: the attention to detail that fuels Australia’s swimming medal machine

At the end of an exceedingly successful Paris Olympics swim meet for Australia, after the women’s medley relay had won silver in the final race of the event, there was an impromptu celebration. Having collected their medals and stood on the podium for yet another time this past week, the relay team jumped in the pool together – fully clothed.

It was a touching scene, one inspired by Kaylee McKeown, the fourth most successful Australian Olympian, who was joined by the Australia’s most successful Olympian Emma McKeon, Mollie O’Callaghan and teammate Jenna Strauch.

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“That was my idea,” said McKeown. “I just saw the pool and was like, ‘why not?’” For McKeon, who is set to retire following the Games, it was a moment to savour. “It was definitely one of the funnest things I’ve done at the Olympics,” said the six-time Olympic gold medallist. “I’m glad we did that.”

Unexpected time in the pool aside, the Dolphins do not have much time to celebrate. The team had an informal gathering on Sunday night, before immediately diving into a debrief on Monday morning. From there the team will go their separate ways. Kyle Chalmers has an engagement party planned in Norway (he was recently engaged to the swimmer Ingeborg Løyning); McKeown’s mum has booked her a holiday in Dubrovnik, Croatia; McKeon and Elijah Winnington are both taking a week off, before returning to Paris for the closing ceremony.

For coaching staff, including head honcho Rohan Taylor, attention has already turned to how Australia’s Olympic medal factory can continue its success in four years’ time. “We will debrief this morning with the team,” said Taylor. “We’ll look at where we can improve, where we can get better – we definitely want to do that.”

Australia’s success in the pool in Paris, including seven gold medals – just one behind the United States – is remarkable. It is the team’s equal third best result at any Games, behind only Tokyo 2020 and Melbourne 1956, and alongside Athens 2004.

But context makes it even more impressive. Following a sparkling era in the 2000s, the London 2012 Olympics was Australian swimming’s annus horribilis, with just one gold medal won (the women’s 4x100m freestyle relay). The Dolphins finished seventh on the swimming medal tally, below Hungary and just ahead of Tunisia. There were signs of improvement in Rio four years later, with three gold medals. But nine golds at Tokyo 2020 and now a gold-studded meet in Paris make clear that Australia is once again the co-dominant swim nation in the world, alongside only their American arch rivals.

Head coach Taylor has been there for the journey. He was a coach in London and Rio, before being elevated to lead the team ahead of Tokyo. In recent months, whenever Taylor is asked about the secret behind the Dolphins’ success, Taylor talks about converting opportunities. An often-forgotten fact about London 2012 is that the Australians won six silver medals – if just half of those had instead been gold, the Dolphins would have been third on the medal tally – not exactly a horror Games.

“We’ve directed our resources to the most important places that are required,” Taylor said on Monday, “which is athlete support, coach support, the training environment, making sure the athletes and coaches and performance support staff have what they need to really design a good performance outcome.”

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For the Dolphins, it is a three-phase process: get the athletes swimming fast, get them to Paris, and then give them the best opportunity to convert that speed into gold medals. With that in mind, Swimming Australia and the Australian Olympic Committee have focused on the smallest details to give athletes the best possibility of converting. In the Olympic village, the Australians have their own gym, canteen and barista to allow them to stay focused within an Australian bubble. “For the AOC to provide such a supportive environment for our athletes, to allow them to perform, has been exceptional,” said Taylor.

Paris was not a flawless meet for the Dolphins. “We were probably just a little bit down on some conversions, but not far off the mark,” Taylor said. Middle distance star Sam Short came up short while Covid also impacted the team, with Zac Stubblety-Cook and Lani Pallister both struck down. And the Australians were one relay, the men’s 4x100m mixed medley, away from a sweep of medals in every relay. “We were one short of getting a medal in every relay – I want to get one in every one, that will be a goal,” added Taylor.

Which means that, for Taylor and his team, the search for continuous improvement goes on. Roll on Los Angeles 2028. “We’ll go back to the drawing board, performance by design,” Taylor said on Sunday immediately after the meet concluded. That phrase is one of Taylor’s mantras. Twelve hours later, speaking at a press conference before the team debrief began, it was again on Taylor’s lips.

“We talk about performance by design – and performance by design means we need to know what we need to do to get the better outcomes,” Taylor said. “We have some really good ideas, we just have to invest in the right places with the right athletes and the right coaches and continue to work to improve.”