2024 Short Course World Championships
- December 10-15, 2024
- Duna Arena, Budapest, Hungary
- SCM (25m)
- Meet Central
- Roster Index
- SwimSwam Preview Index
- Pick’em
- Psych Sheets
- Live Results
- Prelims Live Recap: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4
- Finals Live Recap: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4
Australian Elijah Winnington was candid speaking post-race after winning gold in the men’s 400 freestyle at the Short Course World Championships on Thursday, shedding light on some of the hurdles he’d been dealing with coming out of the Olympic Games.
Winnington, 24, came through to win silver in the men’s 400 free at the 2024 Olympics in Paris, a redemption of sorts after the Tokyo Games in 2021 where was the pre-race favorite in the event but failed to medal.
Despite the success of Paris, which also included a finals berth in the 800 free and a bronze medal in the men’s 4×200 free relay, Winnington faced some internal struggles coming out of the Games.
On Thursday, he won the men’s 400 free at SC Worlds in a time of 3:35.89, a massive personal best, and immediately pointed to his head after the victory to signal that he had conquered his mental demons.
“I only started training when the rest of team were racing at the World Cup in October and November,” Winnington told Swimming Australia. “I am not … at my fittest point right now, and I like to take the race out strong … I knew if I did that tonight I might not have it at the end which is where I really love to come home.
“In an Olympic year, it’s always really hard and there are so many points where I was going to pull out of this meet.”
Winnington said that when he decided to opt in to SC Worlds, he struggled mentally with the idea of racing under the spotlight again.
“When I decided to do it, I was (mentally) breaking down with my fiancé and my parents because I was in a really bad spot, just to think of coming to another competition was hard.
“The Olympics takes so much out of you and I was mentally drained and then there was the added pressure that I am an Olympic silver medalist and there would be more eyes on me.
“The pointing to my head (after the race) was more to show myself and the world how much it took to get up for this. My whole squad from St Peters isn’t here with me and my coach Dean (Boxall) hasn’t been at the pool.
“I need to thank the guys who worked out with me when they really didn’t have to because they are not really training for anything right now. It was a mental battle that I wanted to share with my family and friends back home.”
In winning the event, Winnington’s 3:35.89 clocking topped the American duo of Carson Foster and Kieran Smith, who tied for silver in 3:36.31.
“It means everything to me to win (in Budapest),” Winnington said. “This pool holds such a special place in my heart – it’s where I won my first World Course title in 2022 and this is my first ever short course world championship.
“Like I said earlier today, I am trying to make the most of my swimming career which is why I wanted to come and do this meet – I love representing Australia and I know it won’t last forever.”
He also spoke about how he’s taken on more of a leadership role on this version of the Australian national team.
“And this is a very special team. We have so many rookies and as a team leader I am loving being around their energy. Today one of our rookies (Milla Jansen) said ‘oh are you racing today? I thought you were here just as our mentor’ … and that was a pretty special moment for me.
“Of course I want to race well for myself but I also want to give the rookies the best experience they can have on their first senior international team.”
On Friday, Winnington anchored the Australian men to silver in the 4×200 free relay, setting a new Commonwealth, Oceanian and Australian Record in the process.
