Yesterday Travis Mahoney finished second in the men’s 400 IM posting a time of 4:14.98, which was under the Australian Olympic qualifying time of 4:15.47. Mahoney improved on his lifetime best of 4:16.90, which he posted at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
Mahoney’s emotion after the race was captivating. He told Swimming Australia reporters several times that he was over the moon. He then went on to explain that his performance was dedicated to and inspired by both his aunt and Nana who have both past away within the last year.
Mahoney’s aunt battled with cancer over a nine year period, eventually succumbing to the illness last August. She was originally given 18 months to two years to live. His Nana passed away just two moths ago. He explained that both his aunt and Nana were on his mother’s side of the family and expressed great empathy for his mother
He told reporters that “When it was really hard in the pool I just had them in my mind. How strong she was and how tough she was to push through all the chemo and radiotherapy.”
Watch Mahoney tell his entire story in this video.
