Giuliani On The Dawn Of An Epic Journey From Tasmania To The Gold Coast, Paris & Beyond
Eighteen months ago, promising swimmer Max Giuliani took the biggest gamble of his life.
He had left school and found himself at a fork in the road. In one direction was the well-trodden path to becoming a tradie in his hometown of Hobart in Tasmania, like his mates. The other direction was unknown and daunting, but just might lead him to his dream of becoming an Olympic swimmer.
Aged 18, Giuliani took the road less-travelled, packing up and moving to the Gold Coast to train at the Miami club with coach Richard Scarce.
For a long time, he wasn’t sure he’d made the right decision. He was homesick and missed his old life and his mates. But tonight he stood up and won the 200m freestyle at the Australian Olympic trials in Brisbane to stamp his ticket to the Paris Olympics, and all the pain and angst became worthwhile.
More Coverage Of Day 2 Finals in Brisbane:
Max Giuliani Grabs The Paris 200 Ticket As Strauch & Cooper Line Up For Olympic Relay Action
Brisbane Results in full / Event Page
Giuliani – “Every day I’ve slaughtered myself. I’ve pushed myself to breaking point”
Max Giuliani reflected:
“I’ve done a lot of work, I could not have done anything more. Every day I’ve slaughtered myself. I’ve pushed myself to breaking point. It has been the hardest training I’ve ever done in my life by far. I’ve probably had three months this year where I was just a zombie, couldn’t do anything, just so exhausted from breaking my body every day to post a result like that and get the win when it matters most. I’ve got an Olympic berth, which is awesome.”
“All my mates back home are tradesmen and I suppose you are what you surround yourself with, and that was what I was going to do, give up swimming and go and do that and just have an easy life.
“But yeah, Paul (Crosswell), my coach, moved to Miami and I moved up after meeting Rich (Scarce, the head coach at Miami) once, and since then I’ve made huge drops. I’ve dropped like six seconds since going to Rich and as a 20-year-old that’s massive.”
Max Giuliani – photo courtesy of Funky Trunks
The Australian swimming team’s gain is the electrical industry’s loss.
“I was going to be a sparky (electrician), or a plumber,’’ Giuliani said. “I just ended up sticking to swimming and I’m so happy I have.’’
Giuliani made swim fans take notice last December when he vaulted to No.2 on the Australian all-time list, behind only the former Olympic champion and world record-holder Ian Thorpe, after setting a huge personal best of 1:44.79 at the Queensland Championships.
But he still needed to prove that he could perform when it mattered this week.
He confessed that he was “super nervous” before this race at his first Olympic trials. “I don’t normally get nervous, but I was very, very nervous for that.”
However, he controlled his pacing beautifully in a closely-matched race, staying in touch with the leaders through the first three laps before unleashing down the final stretch to edge ahead and stop the clock in 1:45.83, under the qualifying time of 1:45.97.
Tom Neill produced some outside smoke in Lane One to snatch second in 1:46.02, from fastest qualifier Elijah Winnington (1:46.08) and 20-year-old Kai Taylor (1:46.26), who claimed berths on the 4 X 200m freestyle relay. Taylor is the son of Hayley Lewis, who won the world 200m freestyle title in 1991 and is a dual Olympian. He is the fourth second-generation Olympian to make the Paris team in the first two days in Brisbane. Zac Incerti was the closest man to the top four.
Gallery: All photos by Delly Carr, courtesy of Swimming Australia
Giuliani will now be the spearhead of Australia’s 4 x 200m freestyle relay team in Paris.
“It’s just about who’s the best on the day and who can get up and win and today that was me, tomorrow it could be different,’’ he said afterwards.
Giuliani keeps himself grounded by selling fishing tackle in a shop on the Gold Coast two or three days a week to supplement his income.
“I’m going to message the boss after this to tell him I’ll be away for about ten weeks (the Australian Olympic team goes into camp in Europe next week),’’ he said.
Reflecting on that sliding doors moment when he had to choose his path, he admitted he had found the interstate move “really tough”.
“Moving out of home for the first time, I’m a very friendship-focused guy as well. I’d see my mates every night, and be on the phone to them every day, and I came up here (to Queensland) and didn’t have anything. It really just shook me, but I always loved the training and just stuck with it.”
Max Giuliani – Photo courtesy of Funky Trunks
Gradually he made friends in his training squad and formed a bond with Scarce and found his feet on the Gold Coast. He said the difficult moments had made him more resilient.
“I back myself in being one of the toughest blokes in that field and I know that I want it the most and that I’m willing to do anything to get the job done,’’ he said. “That’s what you saw tonight. It’s just all heart.”
He thanked home coach Paul Crosswell for giving him the courage to chase his dreams.
“I was pretty positive I was going to stay in Tassie and I never wanted to move,’’ he said. “And then Paul, moving kind of chucked me in the deep end. If he hadn’t moved, I’d still be there to this day, I would not be where I am now, so I’m very grateful that he took that job and made that move, and now I’m doing what I’m doing. It’s so great. I definitely wouldn’t have made it if he hadn’t.’’
His next move is across the world – to the Olympic host city.