Emma McKeon was on track to beat Michael Phelps’ record of world championship medals. Eighteen-year-old Ariarne Titmus conquered the previously untouchable American Katie Ledecky in the 400m free and stands on the verge of more gold. And Mack Horton refused to stand on the medal dais because he believes Chinese champion Sun Yang is a “drug cheat”.
There are no prizes for guessing which Australian swimmer received the most column inches and air-time, not to mention a standing ovation in the athletes’ village this week. And that – along with the fact Australians can’t witness these deeds at the world championships in Gwangju, South Korea on the television – is something of a shame.
Consider this: Ledecky won the 200m, 400m and 800m freestyle treble at the Rio Olympics. She is the 400m freestyle world record holder (set at Rio). She had not been beaten in international swimming competition over 400 metres and beyond since 2012. And here was a Tasmanian teenager running her down and powering home to win by a length. Ledecky was unbeatable; now she faces a fresh threat in the XXXII Olympic Games in Tokyo next year.
Before illness took her out of the 200m freestyle, McKeon, 25, was on track to better the record of seven medals at a single World Championship held by the immortal Michael Phelps. McKeon will compete in the 100m free and four relays, looking to add to her gold in the 100m free and bronze in the 100m butterfly.
And yet something else dominated headlines, air-time and social media clips. McKeon and Titmus could be forgiven if they felt a little aggrieved that it took oxygen from their achievements (although there has been no suggestion from either that they do).
While Horton’s stance has been widely lauded – the cafeteria of the athletes’ village went up as one – you wonder what he and his peers would like Fina to do. American Lily King declared that Fina could start by “not letting people who have smashed blood vials in tests compete in their meets”. Yet it’s not that simple.
Fina investigated Sun’s alleged vial smashing and described his actions – in concert with his coach, parents and lawyers – as “foolish”. Yet they also, significantly, found this: “Mr Sun Yang has not committed an anti-doping rule violation.”
Sun’s blood was not collected with proper authorisation and thus the sample was invalid and void. Sun claimed it was smashed for that reason. Fina’s doping control rules were not violated.
Sun still faces a challenge from the World Anti Doping Agency which is appealing Fina’s finding in the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Yet unlike Australia’s NRL, Fina does not have a “no-fault stand down” policy for those charged with, but yet to be prosecuted for, offences.
For one, it would be extremely messy in terms of international sports law for Fina to stand down Sun, chiefly because his peers think he’s a cheat. Also, is the man innocent until proven guilty or not? The NRL’s policy is being challenged for that reason in Australia’s highest court by St George Illawarra Dragons star Jack De Belin. China is bigger than Kogarah-Jubilee, and would bring considerable resources to pressure Fina should it have disqualified Sun from competing on the wishes of his opponents.
Swimmers, however, remain disaffected with Fina. And thus there has been an enthusiastic response to Ukrainian billionaire Konstantin Grigorishin’s International Swimming League, which kicks off in October in the USA and Europe. After originally threatening to boycott the ISL, Fina has allowed swimmers to compete, albeit “unofficially” meaning records will not stand.
The ISL will see eight teams – four from Europe, four from the USA – made up of 12 men and 12 women. Athletes need not be from the nations their franchises nominally represent, meaning swimmers like McKeon and Titmus can compete.
Grigorishin is a swimming fan and philanthropist yet the ISL must ultimately walk on its own legs. This means the sale of television broadcast rights. Yet given Australian broadcasters’ lack of enthusiasm to buy the rights to the current world championships in time-zone-friendly Gwangju, it could be a tough sell.
And it remains a shame that instead of watching the world championships on TV, Australians are relying on old-fashioned reports from newspaper journalists, the modern equivalent of hearing cricket commentators tapping pencils into their microphones while reading reports of Don Bradman’s heroics on crystal radio receivers.
It’s been a while since the halcyon days of Ian Thorpe, Grant Hackett and Suzie “Madam Butterfly” O’Neill saw Australians super-glued to broadcasts of heroism in the pool. Today the likes of McKeon, Titmus and Horton must wait, like those representing Australia in archery, taekwondo and badminton, four years for the Olympics and their time in the sun.
