Dolphins rookie Max Giuliani has vowed to empty the tank in the final of the 200m Freestyle after an unforgettable night of swimming at La Défense Arena.
Max, a 21-year-old Tasmanian, uprooted his life and a likely career as a plumber or electrician to move to the Gold Coast and train with Richard Scarce in the hope of fulfilling his Olympic dream.
Now he finds himself in the 200m Freestyle final alongside some of the biggest stars in the sport, including Romania’s David Popovici and veteran Brit Duncan Scott. And he insists he won’t be taking a backward step when his Paris whirlwind continues on night three of the Olympic meet.
“If you walk into the marshalling room hunched over and sad, you’ve already lost,” Max said. “You have to fully believe in yourself, be the man and back yourself, even if you can’t beat those guys. You have to try and be the man and act like the man.
“I can’t get left behind by those boys otherwise I’m never going to catch them. My back end is pretty good - but it’s not that good. I just have to get after it.”
Max finished third in the second semi to be the fifth-fastest through to the final in 1:45.37, while fellow Australian Thomas Neill was fifth in 1:46.48, leaving him two spots outside the final eight.
Night one golden girls Ariarne Titmus and Mollie O’Callaghan provided a taster of what shapes as an epic 200m Freestyle final on Monday, with Ariarne (1:54.64) just holding off a surging Mollie (1:54.7) to win their semi-final.
They were the only pair to break 1:55 and it could be another match race between the Australians, who between them own the Olympic title, world title and world record.
“I pulled up really well,” Ariarne said. “I just tried to stay as relaxed as possible. Once you get into the meet you get the ball rolling, start to calm down and feel the momentum.”
Walking out for the 100m Butterfly was Emma McKeon, who had hoped to medal in her final individual event. She took bronze in this race in Tokyo and finished seventh in Paris in 56.93, with American pair Torri Huske and Gretchen Walsh going one-two.
“When Leon was swimming I could hear that from the marshalling area. That was pretty insane. That was my fifth time out there in two days so it never gets old,” Emma said.
“After my race I tried to (take it all in). I had that disappointment with the time but I tried to take it in and finally spotted my family, which was nice.”
Phil Lutton
