‘Drained’ Aussie gun conquers demons

Elijah Winnington was going to pull out of the world short course championships after feeling “mentally drained” following the Paris Games where he finished last in the 800m amid medal expectations.

But Winnington, who won silver in the 400m in Paris, stepped up again and helped secure Australia’s most successful night in Budapest, taking gold in the 400m freestyle with a personal best swim.

He pointed to his head while looking at his coaches after his victory, signalling he had conquered his post-Olympic demons.

“I only started training when the rest of team were racing at the World Cup in October and November,” he said.

“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.

“When I decided to do it, I was (mentally) breaking down with my fiancee 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 medallist 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.

“It means everything to me to win (in Budapest). 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.”

Teammate Lizzy Dekkers finished the night with two bronze medals – one for her 200m butterfly final and the other as part of the 4x200m free relay team, which also included Leah Neale, rookie Milla Jansen and ironwoman Lani Pallister, who won individual gold in the 800m.