Our golden girls
It was Day 3 of the Tokyo Olympic Games when it suddenly occurred to many Australians that a new “Age of the Golden Girls” might be dawning. Hot on the heels of a world-record-breaking 4x100m freestyle win by Emma McKeon, Cate Campbell, Bronte Campbell and Meg Harris, Ariarne Titmus produced one of the great moments in Australian Olympic history, beating US legend Katie Ledecky in the 400m freestyle final. From there poured a deluge of gold.
As had happened in Melbourne in 1956, Australia’s mounting medal tally was being powered largely by the sisterhood. Back then, it had been Golden Girls Betty Cuthbert, Dawn Fraser and Shirley Strickland. This time around, it was Emma, Ariarne and Kaylee McKeown.
Dawn Fraser’s famous 1956 comment that “Australian women have always been gutsier than the men” was ringing true again, and the swimming legend was happy to stand by it. “[The Dolphins] were absolutely fantastic,” she enthused to The Weekly. “They outshone the men again.”
While most of the glory surrounded Emma, Ariarne and Kaylee, there was plenty of guts (and grace) displayed by the whole team, young and older. Dazzling performances in the pool were followed by stirring moments of friendship that met the Olympic ideal. Gold-standard mentoring paved the way for golden swims.
“It wasn’t just the way they performed, it was the way the teammates spoke to one another, the way they applauded each other,
