|
|
Wednesday, September 6
Both teams could be hurt in rivalry
Reuters
SYDNEY, Australia -- The United States
has called for a truce in the escalating war of words with
Australia's swimmers, warning that the row could harm both
teams' chances of winning Olympic gold.
The head coach of the U.S. women's swim squad, Richard
Quick, said both teams were jeopardizing their chances of
winning medals by trading insults in the lead-up to the
Olympics. The swimming competition opens on Sept. 16.
"I really believe both countries are making a big mistake
by focusing on each other," Quick said.
"It's distracting and just motivates everyone else."
The United States has traditionally dominated the Olympic
swimming program, but the Australians are quietly confident
they will come out on top in Sydney because of the home-pool
advantage.
Their rivalry has been fueled over the past year by a
series of light-hearted spats. At the U.S. Olympic
trials last month, the Americans were selling T-shirts that read:
"Kangaroo - it's what's for dinner."
But the row has degenerated over the past two days after
American sprinter Gary Hall said the U.S. would smash the
Australians "like guitars."
Australia's dual gold medalist Kieren Perkins responded by
calling Hall a "drugs cheat," incurring a reprimand from the
president of the Australian Olympic Committee.
The head coach of the U.S. men's team, Mark Schubert, said
Hall would also be given a dressing down over his remarks while
the rest of the team would be warned to behave.
"I certainly will discuss it with him," Schubert said.
"We have a lot of respect for the Australians and comments
like that don't help. There's just no need for trash-talk.
"We obviously know the Australians have a very strong team
but this is not just about us and them.
"There are a lot of other great teams here and if we don't
show them the respect they deserve they are going to swim
straight past us."
The row has not gone unnoticed by some of the other leading
swim teams.
The Dutch, who have spent the past month quietly training
at Newcastle, north of Sydney, believe the Australians and
Americans were inviting trouble if they under-estimated the
quality of European swimming.
"I don't think they can afford to do that," Netherlands
head coach Stefaan Obreno said.
"There is a lot of depth in European swimming at the moment
and we would expect that they would know that."
The Dutch have at least two genuine gold-medal contenders
in Inge de Bruijn, who has set eight world records in the past
four months, and Pieter van den Hoogenband, a winner of six
gold medals at the European championships last year.
Jacco Verhaeren, who coaches both de Bruijn and van den
Hoogenband, said: "I think people might get a surprise at the
Olympics.
"If the Australians and the Americans think they're the
only ones with a chance of winning gold they're going to be in
for a bit of a shock."
|  | |
ALSO SEE
War of words hitting full steam between U.S. and Aussies
|