Every minute of Channel Nine’s pre-Paris primer,but the retelling of Armstrong’s win in the 200 metres at the 1988 Seoul Olympics stole the show.
Channel Nine's swimming documentary 'Boiling Point - Swimming's Greatest Rivalry' airs on Sunday night.
Armstrong and his indomitable coach,Laurie Lawrence,went into the final with a clear plan to swim in the wake created by the man in the lane alongside him:American hero Matt Biondi,who was one of three world-record holders in the race.
When Armstrong touched the wall,noticed untouched water to his left then spun around and saw “1” flashing next to his name on the scoreboard,along with the letters “WR” signifying a world record,he’d summited his personal Everest.
“You just know that you’ve invested five years of your life,staked everything in it,and it’s all come true,” he said. “Matt Biondi grabs me,he looks at me,and goes,‘Did you enjoy the ride?’ I look at him and say,‘It won me gold.’”
Then Armstrong’s bottom lip started to quiver.
Laurie Lawrence and Duncan Armstrong.Fairfax Photographic
“It’s where your imagination sits,” he continued. “You sit there,and it rattles down the pool in this cavernous competition area,and you’re responsible for it. It gets you in the guts. It’s your proudest moment as an Australian.”
The documentary also featured Australia’s famous win over America’s Gary Hall jnr and Co in the men’s 4 x 100m freestyle in Sydney,as well as Ariarne Titmus’ giant-killing performance in Tokyo when she mowed down the greatest swimmer of all time,Katie Ledecky.
It was a timely reminder of how much hard work,emotionally and physically,is required when hunting down an Olympic dream.
It also brought home what’s on the line for each competitor at the Australian swimming trials,which started in Brisbane on Monday,and in Paris next month.
Ariarne Titmus memorably reeled in Katie Ledecky to win gold in the 400m freestyle at the Tokyo Olympics.Getty
Swimming might be our “national sport” — as veteran media man and journalist Ian Hanson claims in the doco — but it only captures the national imagination every couple of years with the Olympics and Commonwealth Games.
Our vacillating interest doesn’t make it any easier for those who dedicate the entirety of their young lives to it.
In the next week,dozens of athletes will have their hearts broken as years of hard work are boiled down to a matter of minutes,even less,in the pool.
It comes at a cost,but the rewards are great. Swimming is enjoying a renaissance as predictions about Paris being our most successful in the pool gather momentum.
Kyle Chalmers was involved in a running battle with media during the 2022 Commonwealth Games.Getty
It’s exciting. During the past decade,there has been a distinct disconnect between the Australian public and the national swim team.
Stilnox sagas,trashed rooms in the athletes’ village and so-called love trysts have painted our swimmers – unfairly in many ways – as entitled brats. A solitary gold medal in London,then three in Rio,didn’t help their reputations.
The 2022 Commonwealth Games was a low-point in the promotion of the sport as 100m king Kyle Chalmers battled reporters daily in the mixed zone. There was talk before and during that meeting about the team issuing a blanket media ban.
That’s a far cry from the night in Seoul when Hanson,who was working for Sydney afternoon tabloidThe Mirror,leaned over the railing and barked at Armstrong after he’d won gold.
“Dunc,I’m on deadline!” he shouted. “I need a quote!”
“Tell them I surfed my way to gold,” said Armstrong,whose quote ran on front page.
Years of dysfunction at Swimming Australia with a revolving door of chief executives,chairs,and high-performance staff have made swimming look like a veritable basket case.
The shadow of billionaire benefactor Gina Rinehart also looms large.
While she,and some of the yarns about her heavy-handedness are almost too good to be true,many within swimming wonder where the sport would be without her. She pulled her Swimming Australia sponsorship in 2021 but continues to support swimmers individually via Swimming Queensland.
Thankfully,the performances of the athletes are pushing these machinations into the background.
This week’s trials are arguably the most anticipated since Ian Thorpe came out of retirement in 2012 in a bid to qualify for the London Olympics.
Consider the women’s 100m freestyle. Headed by Titmus,Mollie O’Callaghan,Shayna Jack and Emma McKeon,the qualification race for Paris will be better than the actual race for gold in Paris.
When I contacted Armstrong on Monday,he was beaming about the current trajectory of the sport.
After he announced his retirement,he spent 12 years calling swimming alongside rugby league commentator Ray Warren,who described races like length-of-the-field tries.
“We’re definitely on a different path now,” Armstrong said. “The style of swimmer that we’ve got right now and the investment that the Australian public is making in our women’s team especially is pretty cool … The make-up of the team is being embraced by the Australian public.”
The US will always be Australia’s rival in the pool,although there are doubts about how strong the Americans will be in Paris.
“They didn’t break a world record in the last calendar year,” Armstrong said. “There are seismic changes within the US team.”
Underestimate Team USA at your peril. Its Olympic trials will be held next week inside the home of the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts,which has reconfigured its stadium to host 30,000 swim fans.
In time,another Biondi will emerge … just in time for the next Duncan Armstrong to be underestimated and surf his or her way to Olympic gold.
Boiling Point is available on.