Australia coach fired for supporting South Korean swimmer at Olympics

Swimming Australia has sacked coach Michael Palfrey after he said at the Paris Olympics that he had hoped a South Korean athlete would beat the Australian swimmers.

Palfrey told South Korean television he hoped South Korean Kim Woo-min would win the men's 400-meter freestyle in Paris, an event also contested by Australians Sam Short and Elijah Winnington.

“I really hope he can win, but ultimately I hope he swims well,” Palfrey said during the Paris Games, adding: “Go Korea.”

Swimming Australia said in a statement on Friday that Palfrey was dismissed “due to a breach of his employment contract”.

It went on to say that Palfrey had “brought himself into disrepute and caused serious damage to his reputation and that of Swimming Australia and was prejudicial to the interests of Swimming Australia.”

The statement said Palfrey would retain his accredited coaching status.

Palfrey, who had previously worked as an adviser to Kim, was asked, along with Australia's other swimming coaches, to end any collaboration with non-Australian swimmers in March, four months before the Olympics.

German Lukas Märtens won the gold medal in the men's 400-meter freestyle, with Winnington taking silver ahead of Kim, who won bronze.

Australia's head swimming coach Rohan Taylor had described Palfrey's comments as “un-Australian” and said he might be sent home, but he was eventually allowed to stay in Paris.

“Very disappointed. Extremely disappointed,” Taylor said at the time. “For a coach on our team to promote another athlete ahead of our athletes is not acceptable.”