(Sydney) The Australian Swimming Federation on Friday sacked a member of its coaching staff for encouraging a South Korean swimmer during an event at the Paris Olympics, to the detriment of his fellow countrymen.
Coach Michael Palfrey had caused a stir at home by openly supporting South Korean Kim Woo-min, whom he had once coached, against his two Australian rivals in the 400m freestyle final.
“I really hope he wins, but more importantly I really hope he swims well,” Palfrey, wearing the Australian team jersey, told South Korean reporters. “Go Korea!” he even said.
While describing the comments as “anti-Australian”, head coach Rohan Taylor stopped short of removing Palfrey immediately, saying it would have destabilised the team.
On Friday, Swimming Australia finally announced that it had “dismissed Michael Palfrey for breach of his employment contract”, accusing him of having “brought himself into disrepute” and having “seriously damaged his reputation and that of Swimming Australia”.
Kim Woo-min eventually won the bronze medal in the 400m freestyle, behind Australia’s Elijah Winnington, who took silver. Gold went to Germany’s Lukas Maertens, and the other Australian in the race, Samuel Short, finished fourth.