SWIMMING: London Olympian Jarrod Poort and debutant Chelsea Gubecka will take to the waters of Copacabana for the 10km marathon swim, after booking their Rio spots at the final qualifier in Setubal, Portugal. 

The pair complete the Swimming Section of the 2016 Australian Olympic Team, with a total of 39 athletes to compete at the Games which kick off in just 50 days.

At the Beijing and London Games Ky Hurst and Mel Gorman represented Australia in the 10km swim, now the baton has been passed to Poort and Gubecka who will make their Olympic open water debut.

With just one Australian male and female berth up for grabs in Portugal, the slimmest of margins separated Poort from fellow hopeful Simon Huitenga with the pair both finishing in the top 10 and a mere 3.2 seconds apart.

But Poort managed to come out on top after making the risky move of swimming to the front with three kilometres to go, cementing himself a seventh place finish ahead of Huitenga in ninth.

“It was always going to be tough, there was only one male spot for Australia. It’s tough because we’ve developed friendships over the years and I think we’ve tried to get the best out of each other,” said Poort, who four years ago beat Rio Team member Mack Horton for a spot in the 1500m in London.

“I was only 17 years old at the trials, Mack was 15. We were friends and he just missed the Team and I was bummed for him. Now he’s absolutely killing it. We were talking the other day and I was saying it will be great to be on the team together.

“At London I was so naïve and the experience all happened so quickly. I didn’t even expect to make the Team. The whole goal of London was to gain experience and to learn for Rio.”

Training in Wollongong under Coach James Greathead for the past three years, Poort said it’s been tough being the only senior in the small training group.

“I’ve been on my own, it’s been hard. I used to train with (Rio Team members) David and Emma McKeon before 2013 but then they moved up north (to Queensland) and I decided I wanted to stay here I like being in Wollongong,” said Poort whose family booked their tickets to the Games three months ago.

“I’ll be surrounded by all the people who have impacted my career. Mum and Dad didn’t get a chance to come to London so knowing they were going to come to Rio was an added incentive to qualify.”

Poort has a refreshing take on what he’ll consider a personal best in Rio.

“I’m never angry if I don’t win, I never lose a race I always gain something,” he said.

“I have so much more to give in the sport and anything can happen. I’d love to stand on the podium. I just want to get the best out of myself.”

For 17-year-old Gubecka the Portugal experience was also tense, needing to beat fellow Australian and teammate Kareena Lee.

“It didn’t really feel real when I touched the time pad. I knew I had done pretty well when I turned around and Kareena was still coming up I knew I’d made the Olympics,” she said.

“Having Kareena up there was always going to be different. Mentally it was very tough. The race was very rough, all the other countries had a race within a race too to secure their own selection.”

With a seventh place finish the Queenslander, who made her Australian Team debut at 14 at the 2013 World Championships, booked her spot on the plane to Brazil and realised a lifelong dream.

“In Rio I would like to mix it up with the best girls in the world. I need to reset my goals now I’ve made the team. The dream is to win a medal, but I’ll need to set a few goals of maybe top 10, top three you never know over there,” Gubecka said.

“The Olympics is going to be a whole new ball game.”

Gubecka came close to securing an automatic spot at the Games, finishing 13th at last year’s World Championships with the top 10 taking a quota position.

“I wasn’t too far off the pace. It was pretty disappointing but very happy with the result. In 2013 at the World Championships I was 30th so it was a big improvement. I haven’t stopped working hard in the last four months since I missed that spot,” she said.

“The last four years have been amazing. When I made my Team debut I didn’t know what to expect. Being 14, nothing was quick to sink in it was all a blur going to different countries. Now I think I take more in every time I travel.”

These two additions take the 2016 Australian Olympic Team to 169 athletes from 16 sports, with the final team expected to be more than 400 athletes. Complete biographies on all selected athletes here>>>

ANNIE KEARNEY
olympics.com.au