Expectations far too high for the Campbell sisters

Great honest article. Very well written. Totally agree about the girls. We get so used to producing medals in the pool every 4 years that it becomes expected...but these are different athletes and their competitors are different. So proud of the entire Aussie Swim team!

Are you and Beardan related?

I'm not completely sure this is true but it seems that favourites would less often win over shorter distances. If you have a bad 20 seconds in a distance race you can recover, but harder to do that in a shorter race. Obviously there are cases like Usain Bolt who almost always win. The Campbells would still be very disappointed, and they were well off their best, but not winning despite favouritism seems to me more likely to happen in short races. Kind of like how it's hard to consistently win the kieren, though probably not as hard as that.

Cate had the fear put into her after that semi. She had broken the Olympic record for the 2nd time that day but the young Canadian finished 0.01 behind her which would have shocked her big time. She had to totally change her race plan in one day and it didn't work. Credit to her that she was able to come back and do a great final leg of the relay in a time which would have won the gold but she didn't do it when it counted. Getting a beating like this will be good for them I think and McEvoy as well and show them they aren't going to win simply by showing up.

they were rightfully expected to win and showed their disappointment in their speech Most people feel disappointed for them. you are way off the mark

They probably shouldn't have shot all of those commercials until after the games. They seem like slightly nicer versions of James Magnussen to me and don't deserve too much sympathy. Although having said that Bronte's Donald Trump snide remark was disrespectful to the Americans who have conducted themselves graciously through the program.

In fairness, as an athlete you take endorsements as they come along. It doesn't mean they were cocky.

Expectations too high? One broke the world record in July and the other is world champion. They did endorsements BEFORE going to Rio.

Based on the analysis in the article that Cate was slow out of the blocks, in her case at least her problem may have had nothing to do with her physical form. You peak as much as you like, but if you freeze on the starting blocks, it will all be for little.

I agree Sheek. Pressure and expectation comes with the territory. The media will build you up, and tear you down if you don't perform. That sort of drama sells copy. There's little point in athletes or fans complaining about it. Being able to build your form to a world-beating standard and being able to perform under the pressure of an Olympic final are two entirely different capabilities. Phelps is great as he can do both.

Alyssa, I'm sorry, but expectations come with the territory. Cate Campbell wasn't some 16 year old rookie at her first Olympics. That was 2008 when she picked up two bronze medals, one individual & one team. Cate was 24 years old at Rio, at her third Olympics. She was at the absolute peak of her career physically & mentally. She swam the 100m freestyle final like she was still a rookie, not the experienced campaigner she is supposed to be now. Sure, she's a wonderful human being, but it's difficult to find an excuse for her limp performance. Kim Brennan was world champion & favourite for the women's single sculls. But she didn't buckle under the burden of favouritism. She handled the expectation, the workload, & delivered. This is the 13th Olympics I've experienced since, & including 1968. There are two things you can be sure of at every Olympics: 1. Someone who is favourite & expected to win, will bomb out. 2. Someone who is not expected to win, will surprise by getting the gold. In the pool at Rio, too many Australians who were world champions &/or world record holders, failed to back up their previous performances. Look at them - Cate & Bronte Campbell, Emily Seebohm, Mitch Larkin, Cameron McEvoy & Mack Horton (1500m freestyle). We could have expected one or two of them to bomb, but for six of them to bomb in eight individual events between them suggests there are deeper problems within the Swimming Australia organisation. Problems that need to be identified & rectified.

Groves swan a 0.6 second PB and got silver in the 200 fly.

Agree with others above, this is a cop-out. Cate Campbell isn't having any of it. If she's swum the best she could and someone just beat her then fine. But if Cate had pulled out a race anywhere near the best time she's done this year she would have won comfortably. We can't listen to people like Bruce McAveney continually thinking we can "take the US" in the swimming. But when we have so many swimmers who are world champions and who swam times at the Australian trials that were better than the gold medal winning time at the Olympics, but weren't able to get close to that time at the Olympics, we have a problem. This is a bigger failure than London. Sure we got 2 more gold in the pool, they basically came from unexpected sources. Overall we finished with the same number of medals as London despite having so many more World Champions and swimmers with World Best times this year where those times were way better than the time to win the event at the Olympics. For these athletes, it's all about the Olympics. Their whole training is supposed to be designed around peaking at the Olympics. Peaking at the Olympics should mean that we are seeing a high percentage of swimmers pulling out PB's at the Olympics, but instead of that we have seen our top swimmers consistently way below their best. We can't just "expect" gold medals, but we should expect that the majority of swimmers should be prepared to perform their absolute best at the Olympics. The continual failure we've seen over the last few Olympics suggests there is something really needs to be looked at with how swimming in Australia is operating.

I think the trick is to try and beat your PB, and the rest take care of itself. I don't think there were any swimmers that swam a PB.

Isn't saying "The Australian swimmers aren’t as good as the media makes them out to be" exactly what the author is saying- that expectations are unrealistically high?

Joe I agree with you , total cop out ! I want my money back , can I get some on my tax return as the swim team were funded $40million last 4 years . The sisters and most the team blew it big time (again ). I have had some poor returns on investments over the last 4 years but 3 gold for $40 millllion would be the worst - it's a damning statistic and further heightened by the Americans who destroyed us - Phelps and Ledecky singlehandedly . What is plainly obvious for the world to see , is that Australia has the talent but not the coaches . If our swimmers were trained by Americans we probably would of fulfilled expectations , 8 Golds . Instead , we swam like rank amateurs and were constantly out swam by not only the yanks , but other more humble swimming nations . The Australian coaches should feel embarrassed and ashamed , they were cruelly exposed in the biggest cauldron and test of their professional lives . They will return home to Australia knowing that the customized therapeutic $300,000 charted flight from the US to Rio made absolutley no difference to the Aussie swim team. The big question now , where to for Australia swimming ? Sack the coaches and replace them with Americans - all of them , they are light years ahead of us !

The Olympics are about racing, not times.

Saying expectations are too high is a cop out.The one girl who was ahead by a solid margin after 50 meters choked, plain & simple.She was the overwhelming favorite & didn't even place. Michael Phelps had WAY greater expectations placed upon him, as did Katie Ledecke.They both stepped up & won as they were supposed to. The Australian swimmers aren't as good as the media makes them out to be or aren't tuned in scheduling wise to be at their peak when the Olympics begin.Maybe a combination of both.