2024 PARIS SUMMER OLYMPIC GAMES
Many themes wound up spanning the length of the 9-day Olympic swimming competition in Paris.
One of them was the fact that several podiums saw swimmers over the 20-something mark in terms of age, giving inspiration to athletes around the world in terms of career longevity.
For instance, the average age of the men’s 50m freestyle podium was 30. Winner Cameron McEvoy of Australia is 30, runner-up Ben Proud of Great Britain is 29 and bronze medalist Florent Manaudou of France is 33.
Sarah Sjostrom, the double champion in the 50m and 100m freestyle events on the women’s side, is 30 years of age as is Australian women’s 4x100m freestyle gold medal winner Emma McKeon.
Competing as a swimmer on the older age of the spectrum isn’t entirely new. We’ve seen American Dara Torres race in Beijing at 41 while 4 years earlier Dutch ace Inge de Bruijn topped the 50m free podium in Athens at nearly 31.
However, this fact doesn’t erase the awe and motivation others can draw from those who play the long game, sometimes waiting until the twilight of their career to reap an Olympic medal.
Kyle Chalmers of Australia said during the Paris competition that ‘he’s not retiring anytime soon.’
He followed that up by saying, “I’m only 26 and hoping to continue on.
“My mind is very strong, it’s just how long my body can keep up for. But I think I will continue to swim as long as I possibly can.
“I love coming to competitions like this and seeing my mates from all over the world. Hopefully I have a few more years ahead of me.”
Head coach Rohan Taylor relayed his thoughts on career longevity, commenting, “There’s a lot of support there to allow the athletes time to take a break and come back.
“We’ve seen examples of athletes taking time off and coming back and building back into peak performance. They are starting to realise they can extend their careers and I hope it continues.
McEvoy was one such athlete who took an entire year off swim training following the Tokyo Olympic Games. He wound up taking 2023 World Championships gold in the 50m free, silver this year in Doha and now his top prize, gold in Paris.
Taylor continued, “We are starting to see athletes performing extremely well at an older age. When I was swimming, I finished around 21 and thought that was old. Now the system is there to support it and I hope that will continue to happen.
“Talent doesn’t go away. Cam is an example. He went on a bit of a journey, we kept in touch and I said whatever we need to do to support you, we will. As long as I’m in the role I’m committed to that and we are committed to that as a sport.”
McKeon just announced her retirement and similar news may follow other nations’ athletes. But it remains that, as long as swimmers have a solid support system, a healthy body and mind, and the drive to continue, the elite-level precedent has been set.
