Australian swimmer Sam Short will go for Olympic gold in the men’s 400m, 800m and 1,500m freestyle later this month with a very real chance of standing on the podium for all three events. That potential feat is all the more remarkable given just three years ago, the 20-year-old came close to quitting the sport.
Rewind to Swimming Australia’s trials for the Tokyo Olympics, midway through the pandemic, and Short was a rising talent in the middle-distance program. Then only 17, Covid-19 had dashed the Queenslander’s dreams of competing at the cancelled junior world championships, But at the Olympic trials in Adelaide, Short placed second in the 1,500m with a time within the official qualifying standard.
