Jarrod's Story
Competing at his first Olympic Games in London, Poort posted a time of 15:20.82 to finish seventh in his heat and miss the final of the 1500m freestyle.
In Rio, the Wollongong based swimmer made the switch to the open water, competing in the 10km marathon swim. In the early stage he caught the 26-strong field by complete surprise, to open up a lead of almost a minute after the first of four 2.5km laps. It was a bold and daring plan from Poort, but he struggled to hold on after going hard early and finished in 21st.
To secure his spot on the 2016 Team, Poort finished seventh at the final Olympic qualifier in Setabul, Portugal less than seven seconds behind winner Lijun Zu, from China and just three seconds ahead of fellow Australian Simon Huitenga in ninth.
A big sporting fan, Poort counts his favourite Olympic memory as walking around his high school in 2008 sneakily listening to the radio coverage of the Beijing Games all day on his phone.
