Welsh speaks out

Much has been made of the Australian men’s failure to secure gold in the pool, but following the unexpected breakthrough in last night’s 4x100m medley, veteran Australian swimmer Matthew Welsh says the guys have been getting a raw deal from both the media and the public.

Speaking to SportsAustralia after the race, Welsh pointed out that while the younger brigade haven’t been coming through, the experienced members like himself and Michael Klim have performed well, without much luck.

“Michael and I have been on the team for eight, nine years now, so there’s a lot of depth in the men’s team, but I guess we’re failing to get young people to take over which has put a bit of pressure on us old guys, but it’s nice to continue to rise and continue to put the runs on the board,” Welsh said.

“But it’s a great time to be a part of the team, the girls are doing so amazingly well, spurring us on. The guys have been put in such a great effort, on this relay team alone we’ve got about 10 medals at these Games, we’ve got a lot of medals, but because they’re not gold, not many people have been paying attention, it’s a bit unfair.

“Brenton (Rickard) got two tonight, he got one silver by 0.01 of a second, you can’t get much closer than that. Both Michael and I have been touched out on the finishes a couple of times this week and it really just comes down to that. If you raced the races a half hour later, you’d probably get a totally different result.”

It’s an assessment backed by Libby Lenton, one of Australia’s record-breaking golden girls in the women’s 4x100m medley tonight and winner of five gold medals at these Games.

“So many boys who are new on this team stood up and got medals and there were so many instances where it was so close and they got silver. It’s exciting for their future because they are going through a rebuilding phase, just like the women did after 2000. We had Susie (O’Neill) and Sam (Riley) retire, Petria (Thomas) was still going but we didn’t have the depth that we have now and I think it’s really exciting for the men’s future,” Lenton said.

“I think they’ve done fantastically. There was a lot of negative talk about the men prior to the meet, but they got up tonight, they did an amazing job in the relay. I’m positive no one expected them to win, but they stood up and did an amazing job. I think they proved tonight that they are still a force to be reckoned with.”

There’s nothing like the lustre of gold to warm the cockles of the heart and the unlikely win in the team medley was just reward for a week of solid toil that had earned only criticism from a country used to triumphant performances in the pool. The relief and excitement was clearly evident on Welsh’s face and in his words.

“I was almost in tears when we touched on the blocks, I couldn’t believe it, it was a really good feeling and this medal will always remind me of that. It’s good to finally get a gold medal I guess and to get some good practice singing the national anthem,” Welsh said.

“More than anything though, it’s great to finally win one for the guys but another one for the team more importantly, and especially the last one. It leaves a great feeling and a great emotion for the team so we’re all going to left on a high.”

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