Australian coach under fire at Paris Olympics after saying he's pulling for South Korean swimmer

PARIS -- An Australian swimming coach came under fire from his own team on Thursday after saying was pulling for a South Korean athlete to beat his country's medal contenders at the Olympics.

Head coach Rohan Taylor called the comments by Michael Palfrey “un-Australian” and said he might be sent home before the swimming competition, which begins Saturday at La Defense Arena in the western Paris suburbs.

“Very disappointed. Extremely disappointed,” Taylor said. “For a coach on our team to promote another athlete ahead of our athletes is not acceptable.”

Palfrey is part of the Australian staff at the Olympics, overseeing the preparations for three swimmers and working with a fourth athlete as well. But he previously coached South Korean men’s 400-meter freestyle world champion Kim Woo-min.

In an interview with South Korean television, Palfrey said he was pulling for Kim to claim gold in that event on the opening day of the swimming competition.

“I really hope he can win, but ultimately I really hope he swims well,” Palfrey said. He added, “Go Korea.”

Palfrey has conceded making the comment and apologized for the lapse in judgment, according to Taylor, but it may not be enough to keep him in Paris. The head coach said he would meet with the athletes later Thursday to discuss whether Palfrey should remain at the Olympics.

“For me, my priority is the performance of the team, the performance of the athletes,” Taylor said. “I need to look at the performance of the team and make a judgment call on that.”

Australia has two of the leading gold-medal contenders in the 400 freestyle: 2023 world champion Sam Short and 2022 world champion Elijah Winnington.

It's not unusual for coaches to work with athletes from other countries. One of the top American coaches, Bob Bowman, leads a training group that includes French star Léon Marchand.

But in an Olympic year, Taylor said, it was totally unacceptable for a coach on the Australian staff to express support for another country's swimmer.

“We confronted him with those details,” Taylor said. “He owns that and was taken to task for it. He's very remorseful and we're now dealing with it.”

Australian swimmer Bronte Campbell, competing in her fourth Olympics, said the controversy has “barely caused a ripple” within the powerhouse team, which is expecting a big medal haul at the pool.

“When you come into an Olympic Games, it’s all about protecting your energy. It's a big, long, emotional competition,” she said. “Everyone knows what they have to do. We always talk about focusing on performance first. The way you do that is focusing on the things you can control that are right in front of you."

Another Aussie swimmer, Zac Stubblety-Cook, said he understands why Palfrey's comments have stirred up such discord.

“Yes, it's disappointing, but it hasn’t rocked the boat too much," Stubblety-Cook said.

Still, it was an unwanted distraction with the Games fast approaching.

“It's just very, very disappointing to me that one of our coaches promoted another athlete ahead of our athletes," Taylor said. "That really is the thing that concerns me and disappoints me.”

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