- Michael Palfrey made shocking comments in an interview
- The head of Australian swimming has made a decision following his outburst
An Australian Olympic swimming coach who wants a star South Korean athlete to beat the Dolphins will remain at the Paris Games despite widespread anger over his comments.
Swimming Australia head coach Rohan Taylor says coach Michael Palfrey will face “consequences” for his inflammatory comments after the Paris Games.
But Taylor said that given the workload of the eight Australian swimming coaches under her guidance at the Olympics, Palfrey would remain in Paris.
Palfrey told Korean television he expected South Korea’s Kim Woo-min to win the men’s 400m freestyle in Paris.
Australia has two genuine gold medal contenders in Sam Short and Elijah Winnington in the event on Saturday’s opening day of swimming competition in Paris.
“I really hope she can win, but ultimately I hope she swims well,” Palfrey told Korean media, before ending the interview by saying: “Let’s go Korea.”
Taylor called the comments “un-Australian” but decided Palfrey would stay in Paris.
“I’ve come to the decision that the best situation for the team is for Michael Pelfrey to remain with the team for the next nine days,” Taylor told reporters Thursday night in Paris.
Australian swimming coach Michael Palfrey (pictured) will remain in Paris following his shocking comments in an interview with Korean media.
Palfrey said he expects South Korean star Kim Woo-min (pictured) to win the men’s 400m freestyle, despite the fact that two Australians are competing in the event.
Australian head swimming coach Rohan Taylor (pictured) said Palfrey will still face “consequences” for her outburst.
‘We just had an online team meeting where… Michel apologized profusely for his mistake.
‘I am very critical of him.
‘I think it was a very serious error of judgment and the consequences of that will be seen in the future when we return home.
‘But over the nine days of our (swimming) competition, my job is to make a decision about the well-being and performance environment and that’s what I’ve done.
“And it all comes down to training loads and athlete loads.”
Australia’s Olympic mission chief Anna Meares said earlier on Thursday that Palfrey’s comments were “conflictive and a serious error of judgment.”
“He is very conscious and very remorseful about what happened,” Meares told reporters, adding that the Australian Olympic Committee would support Taylor’s decision.
Palfrey works with Australian swimmers Zac Incerti, Abbey Connor and Alex Perkins.
He has also mentored South Korean swimmers, including Kim, who won the 400-meter freestyle at the World Championships in Qatar in February.
Australia’s Sam Short (pictured) and Elijah Winnington will battle it out for gold at the event, and Palfrey “profusely apologised” for his comments at a team meeting.
Taylor said Australian coaches had been given “directives” in March to end any association with non-Australian swimmers ahead of the Paris Olympics.
And Taylor expressed her disappointment at the furore caused just two days before the start of the Olympic swimming competition.
“It’s been a heavy burden,” Taylor said.
‘I work a lot with the coaches, I trust them a lot.
‘They work very hard, the athletes work very hard and we work very, very hard to be united.
“And for someone to make a really silly error in judgment and not really think about the team at that moment was disappointing to me.
“And from that perspective I got angry and I made sure he knew it.”