Australia’s James Magnussen, who in the pool seems destined to be the “next big thing” in Australian swimming, certainly isn’t making himself too many friends outside of the water. Following yesterday’s announcement that Adelaide, South Australia would be the host to the nation’s 2012 Olympic Trials (as compared to Sydney, that’s hosted every trials since 2000), he shot off the following barb on facebook:
“Olympic trials 2012 in Adelaide. What an absolute joke! Can’t wait to swim in front of crowd of 10 and that will only happen if the entire city turns out to watch.”
It’s hard to imagine that Adelaide winning the right to host a slew of major events over the next two years was a surprise to anybody; even in Australia you don’t build a $100 million swimming facility without certain assurances that the national circuit will be running through town shortly thereafter. South Australian swimming officials have estimated that the complex will pump 4-5 million dollars into the local economy for every one of these major events that they host.
If there are truly any doubts about Adelaide’s ability to host a successful meet, despite being a much smaller city than Sydney, observers need only look at the Omaha Olympic Trials. The 2008 trials in Omaha, hosted in the Qwest Center (a basketball and hockey arena), were such a success that USA Swimming is taking the event back for 2012. And at that, Omaha has roughly one-third of Adelaide’s 1.2 million population.
Besides which, Adelaide has a strong history of attracting large crowds to sporting events, including over 100,000 to a Lance-Armstrong-attended cycling race in early 2010, despite the elitist views of some in the more heavily populated Sydney.
There are at least a few of his Australian teammates who don’t feel the same way about Adelaide, and are excited about swimming in a facility that has the chance to join the world’s most elite swimming complexes. Brenton Rickard responded (also on facebook) that “How bout all u boys pull your heads in, might be a nice change to have it outside Sydney for first time in a few years.”
According to Adelaidenow.com.au, Magnussen later attempted to clarify his comments with the following statement: “My concerns, although poorly worded, were purely for my friends and family and other swimmers who are close friends (who) will struggle to be able (to) attend this event due to the increased financial strains holding it away from Sydney.”
Possibly a valid concern, but these are struggles that fans, friends, and family outside of Sydney have had to deal with for years.