Olympic Coach Michael Palfrey Emerges in China After Being Fired for Being “Un-Australian”

Khanswim, a famous Chinese swim blogger, is reporting on Weibo that Australian coach Michael Palfrey, fired from his job for being “un-Australian,” has been hired by the Jiangsu Province swim team in China.

Palfrey came under fire at the Olympic Games in Paris, where he was a member of the Australian coaching staff.

Prior to the start of the Games, Palfrey, who worked with Korean 400m free ace Kim Woomin in addition to the USC Spartans club, said of that event’s prospects in Paris, “I think it’s going to come down to that last 100 meters.

“We need Woomin to lift, that’s what I’ll be saying to him. He’s got to race tough.”

He also reportedly said, “Go Korea” in the interview.

At the time Aussie head coach Rohan Taylor stated Palfrey’s words were ‘very disappointing.’

“It’s extremely disappointing for a coach on our team to promote another athlete ahead of our athlete; it is not acceptable.”

Kim finished in 3rd in the race while Australians Elijah Winnington and Sam Short finished 2nd and 4th, respectively.

While Winnington said he wasn’t bothered by the comments and said that there was no animosity among the team, Palfrey was ultimately fired by Swimming Australia from his job with USC Spartans after the Olympics – a victim of the country’s highly-centralized system that gives the governing body authority over coaches of some training groups.

Three members of Palfrey’s USC Spartans team qualified for the Australian team at the Paris 2024 Olympics: Abbey Connor, Zac Incerti, and Alexandria Perkins. He also has previously coached several other stars of Australian swimming, including four-time Olympic medalist Brianna Throssell.

Jiangsu, the home province of 10-time Olympic medalist Zhang Yufei, does not have the same level of development in swimming as some of China’s other regions, but Palfrey’s hiring is being viewed as part of an effort to develop the industry in the coastal region. Other foreign coaches have been brought in to coach the team in the past – including American Ron Turner.

Palfrey’s is the latest of a long and contentious saga of Australian coaches supporting swim teams in Asian countries, including notably Denis Cotterell, who formerly coached Sun Yang.

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