Imago
File Photos England s Rebecca Adlington swimming the 400 Meters Freestyle at the FINA Swimming World Championships in Rome, Italy, on July 26, 2009. Photo by Henri Szwarc/ABACAPRESS.COM Local Caption 196577_031 Rome Italy PUBLICATIONxNOTxINxFRAxESPxUKxUSAxBELxPOL Copyright: xSzwarcxHenri/ABACAx 196577_031 SzwarcxHenri/ABACAx 196577_031
Imago
File Photos England s Rebecca Adlington swimming the 400 Meters Freestyle at the FINA Swimming World Championships in Rome, Italy, on July 26, 2009. Photo by Henri Szwarc/ABACAPRESS.COM Local Caption 196577_031 Rome Italy PUBLICATIONxNOTxINxFRAxESPxUKxUSAxBELxPOL Copyright: xSzwarcxHenri/ABACAx 196577_031 SzwarcxHenri/ABACAx 196577_031
At the 2000 Sydney Olympics, US swimmer Gary Hall predicted the American 4x100m freestyle relay team would “smash [the Australians] like guitars.” But the complete opposite happened. In front of a home Aussie crowd, the Australian team won, and as a reaction, Aussie swimmer Michael Klim playfully played an air guitar to tease the U.S. team. That’s the extent of their rivalry. But this time at the LA Olympics, as tables would turn, Aussies would be in front of a home American crowd. And a coach’s warning is setting the tone for it.
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“We’re going to have 44 thousand Americans in SoFi Stadium- brash, bold, screaming. Trump will be there. We’re the underdog. We’re the Aussie battlers coming in. 25 million people against 380,” said Olympic Champ Mollie O’Callahagan’s coach, Dean Boxall, on the LA Olympics.
The pressure will become palpable at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, where swimming will be conducted in the presence of approximately 38,000 spectators, the majority of whom will be Americans, as the game will be on American soil. But for Australia, something hurts more.
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Did you know, Australia has not beaten the Americans on an Olympic swimming medal table since the 1956 Games in Melbourne? Even at the Paris Olympics, the U.S. topped the medal count in swimming with 28 medals, ahead of Australia’s 18.
However, Australia has repeatedly shown that it can perform under pressure, and Mollie O’Callaghan is one of the clearest examples of that strength. At Paris 2024, O’Callaghan delivered an outstanding performance by winning three gold medals, one silver, and one bronze. Her gold medals came in the 200m freestyle, the 4x100m freestyle relay, and the 4x200m freestyle relay, while her silver came in the Women’s 4x100m Medley Relay, and bronze came in the mixed 4x100m medley relay.
Olympic Champion Mollie O'Callaghan's coach Dean Boxall on the LA Olympics:
"We're going to have 44 thousand Americans in SoFi Stadium—brash, bold, screaming. Trump will be there. We're the underdog. We're the Aussie battlers coming in. 25 million people against 380."#LA28 pic.twitter.com/aZ3XtefRcq
— Swim Updates (@swimupdates) April 11, 2026
One of the highlights of the Games was her 200m freestyle win. She went 1:53.27, the Olympic record, and won her first individual Olympic gold medal. It was also a race; no American swimmer managed to get on the podium, and Australian teammate Ariarne Titmus had to settle with silver, and Siobhana Haughey of Hong Kong won third place.
The relay events showed the back-and-forth nature of the rivalry. Australia, with O’Callaghan in the squad, won gold in the 4x100m freestyle relay, beating the United States, who had to settle for silver. But in the 4x200m freestyle relay, the Americans struck back and took gold while Australia finished second.
That back-and-forth has become normal between the two nations. Even though the United States still leads Olympic swimming history with around 257 gold medals, Australia has about 69. But the gap does not show how far Australia is willing to go now. For LA28, they look ready to make bold calls, even if it means top athletes stepping aside or changing their roles just to give the team a better shot at medals.
Kyle Chalmers makes bold relay call as Australia targets LA28 gold
Kyle Chalmers, who has won nine Olympic medals, is already locked in to LA28. And his goal is clear: “I’d love a gold medal in a relay,” he said, showing how much he would like to compensate for what Australia has lost to the United States at Paris 2024. And to pursue that relay gold, he is even willing to take it a step further by changing his role in the team.
Just after winning the 2026 Australian Open men’s 100m freestyle title, Chalmers revealed he is willing to step away from his usual anchor spot in the relay to give space to Cam McEvoy. It is a bold decision, all with one clear aim in mind: beating the Americans on their home turf in Los Angeles.
“If it was to work out, I feel like we would have a very good chance of beating America at their home Olympics, which on night one… would set the team up for an amazing week in the pool,” Chalmers added.
That decision also puts McEvoy back in the centre of attention. He recently broke the world record in the 50m freestyle with a time of 20.88 seconds at the China Open in Shenzhen, breaking the long-standing mark set by Cesar Cielo.
At the same time, Chalmers has already built a strong career of his own. He is a World Championships gold medallist, including the 2023 100m freestyle title, and a multiple Commonwealth Games gold medallist. He also has Olympic gold in the 100m freestyle, but a relay gold at the Olympics is still missing.
Sure, Australia took silver in the 4x100m freestyle relay at Paris 2024, but with these changes already in motion, the focus has clearly shifted to one thing: going one better in LA28.
