“Palfrey was found to have breached his employment contract by bringing himself into disrepute and causing serious damage to his and Swimming Australia’s reputation, and adversely affecting Swimming Australia’s interests.
“CEO Rob Woodhouse confirmed Palfrey’s employment has ended effective immediately and the process to find a successor for Palfrey at USC Spartans has begun.
“Palfrey retains his coach accreditation status. Swimming Australia will be making no further comment.”
Palfrey was looking after swimmers Zac Incerti, Abbey Connor, Alex Perkins and Sam Williamson at the Olympics.
This masthead also published email correspondence from Swimming Australia to coaches that showed Palfrey breached a formal request from SA in March to disassociate with overseas swimmers before the Games.
He will lose his six-figure Swimming Australia salary and his role at USC Spartans on the Sunshine Coast.
Michael Palfrey says he hopes South Korean swimmer Kim Woo-min wins gold – even though he is rivalling two Australians on night one.
Head coach Rohan Taylor and the Australian Olympic Committee admonished Palfrey for his comments but allowed him to remain in Paris with the team.
“It’s just un-Australian, to be honest. I’m not here to defend that,” Taylor said at the Olympics. “As far as what happens post the Games, that will be dealt with.
“I’m very critical of him. I was angry. I made sure he knew that. I believe it was a very bad error of judgment and the consequences for that will be coming in the future when we get back home.”
Australian chef de mission Anna Meares said in July at a press conference: “This is a conflict and a serious error of judgment.”
Loading
Kim Woo-min finished third in the 400m freestyle, ahead of Short, who was world champion in 2023. Winnington, who Palfrey apologised to for the remarks, took silver.
Palfrey also said in the interview, which took place after Australia’s coaches and athletes had already left for the village after training: “I’m very good friends with the Australian coaches and swimmers but I have really enjoyed coaching Kim as well.
“All the information that I sent through and information I get back has been very valuable for me to determine what type of training that Kim still needs to be doing.
“Initially, we had meetings with the coaches and Kim every week.
“I’ve always consistently seen a steady improvement over the last six months. We’re excited to see how fast Kim can swim.”
