EXCLUSIVE: Swimming Australia’s ‘LA Immersion’ Shatters Tradition in Bold Bid to Conquer the USA on Home Turf

In a significant departure from tradition, Swimming Australia has secured accommodation outside of the athletes’ village for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, part of a broader strategy aimed at challenging the USA’s supremacy in swimming on its home turf.

Wide World of Sports has learned that Swimming Australia will conduct a two-day visit to the host city of the 2028 Olympics in August, immediately following the Pan Pacific Championships, an event they have termed an “LA immersion”.

This decision to opt for a hotel separate from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)—the designated location for the athletes’ village—comes after discontent with the village experience at the upcoming Paris 2024, where numerous athletes voiced concerns regarding transportation, food quality, and bedding arrangements.

While the talented Dolphins squad will reside in the village, athletes will have the choice to move to a hotel that is better suited to high-performance conditions, especially during critical phases of their competition schedule.

Swimming Australia believes that by staying at this hotel, which has not been disclosed for security reasons, travel times to SoFi Stadium will be minimised. However, current online travel estimates may not accurately depict actual conditions during the Games, when certain roads may be closed or repurposed to facilitate smoother transport for competitors and their support staff.

The hotel will feature a dedicated high-performance zone for the Dolphins.

This exploratory trip to Los Angeles post-Pan Pacific Championships, scheduled for August 12-15 in Irvine, California, will include one night at the hotel and excursions to the athletes’ village and SoFi Stadium—an AUD$7.8 billion NFL venue that will be transformed into a swimming arena, promising an electrifying atmosphere for the competition.

Sources suggest that Ian Chesterman, president of the Australian Olympic Committee, and Anna Meares, chef de mission, will accompany Swimming Australia during this two-day visit to LA.

The Pan Pacs will showcase teams from Australia, the USA, Canada, and Japan, taking place just 10 days after the Glasgow Commonwealth Games conclude.

Swimming Australia’s preparation camp for the Pan Pacs will be located at the University of California, San Diego, which will also serve as its base for the LA Olympics.

“Essentially, we’re celebrating both the Pan Pacs and the Commonwealth Games while immersing ourselves in the LA experience,” said Dolphins head coach Rohan Taylor in an interview with Wide World of Sports.

“When we return from our August visit, everyone will be just two years from the Games. We’ll know our location, have trained in the pool we’ll compete in, and familiarised ourselves with our accommodation and the village layout, plus experienced SoFi Stadium. It’s all about helping our team grasp and feel comfortable with the environment.”

“They will see the distance to the pool at SoFi Stadium and gain valuable insight into the hotel conditions.”

Approximately 80% of the Dolphins selected for the Pan Pacs are expected to participate in this two-day LA trip, as estimated by Taylor.

This experience will allow athletes to spend the next two years “visualising” their Olympic journey, according to Taylor.

Aussie swimmers have frequently conveyed their concerns regarding village life at Paris when passing through the restrictions at the La Défense Arena.

Shayna Jack recently shared an Instagram photo depicting athletes crowded on the floor of a bus en route to the pool.

“Bus rides to the pool are packed … 45 minutes to the competition pool,” Jack commented. “No air-con or open windows. The bus also got lost. It’s a chaotic start.”

In a post-Games interview with 10’s The Project, Ariarne Titmus described the athletes’ living conditions as “filthy”.

“The Olympic village environment is an experience, and they will all get to have that part of the Olympic journey,” remarked Taylor. “However, when competing, they will have the alternative of staying in a purpose-built environment.”

Australia has not managed to outpace the USA in Olympic swimming medal counts since the 1956 Games, where legends like Murray Rose and Dawn Fraser won gold on home soil.

Since 1956 in Melbourne, the USA has dominated the swimming medal standings at every Olympics, with the exception of the 1980 Moscow Games, which it boycotted, and the 1988 Seoul Games, where the East German team, backed by a state-funded doping programme, led the tally.

At the recent Paris Games, Australia narrowly missed clinching the top spot in the pool, with the USA securing gold in the final event, giving them their eighth gold medal and placing them one ahead of the Dolphins.

“We focus on how we can reach our peak performance and compete against them, as they set the standard,” Taylor reflected.

“For us, it’s about how we can surpass our past achievements and identify the strategies we can implement. These are the processes we prioritise.”

“What we can control are our preparations and the methodologies we adopt.”